The Forgotten Past
by Oceana714
Summary: Ness and Paula have strange dreams. Pokey meets up with the Giygans. A new battle has begun.
1. Dreams

Disclaimer: Earthbound belongs to Nintendo, not me. I'm borrowing it for  
awile and I will try to retun it in as close to it's original condition  
as humanely possible. Have a nice day.   
  
Author's Notes:This is my first fic, so leniency would be appreciated,   
but if you want to be cruel, go ahead. These *** symbolize switching to  
a different point of view or moving to a different point in time or space.  
However, FLASH on a line of its own is a flashback. Any text in these []  
is either telepathy or thoughts.Text in these {} are my commentary.   
Fortunately for you, the last one is quite rare.   
  
  
The Forgotten Past- Part 1: Dreams  
  
It had been one month since Ness and his friends beat Giygas. Life   
was so normal, it wasboring, or in Ness's case exausting. He'd missed so   
much school that he had to stay late afterschool and had to go there most   
of Saturday just to catch up. The Social teacher called his photo album a   
journaling of the events and that made was a substitute project for the   
work. The Englishteacher told him to write an essay about the adventure as   
compensation, which was better thandoing spelling units and grammar   
lessons. The other teachers just said that the work was far too important   
to consider a substitute assignment. He even had to make up gym, which was,   
in his mind, unfair. Naturally, they'd had the worst unit while he was   
gone (the dance unit), so he had to do it all alone with his teacher. The   
school was divided between ridicule and pity.  
He envied his friends. Paula was homeschooled, so she didn't have   
anything to make up,Jeff lived at school anyway and Poo had graduated from   
anything slightly resembling school before the adventure began. The four   
of them made a habit of spending Sunday afternoons together, since   
it was the only day all four of them were free. They often had picnics at   
Summers beach or saw a Runaway Five gig, who had taken up residence in the   
former Stoic Club (It was now known as Clyde's Cool Club and had been   
taken over by former New Age Retro Hippies who mysteriously adored the   
Runaway Five).   
All of this was on Ness's mind as he crawled into bed Saturday   
night, so exausted that heused telekinesis to pull his covers over him.   
Sleep found him quickly and almost as soon as he fell asleep, Ness dreamed.   
He tried to move, but discovered he was bound from head to toe.   
At first, he though he was in total blackness, but if he focused hard,   
Ness could see he was in some sort of jail cell.  
A familiar voice rose from the vastness. "Hey, Pig's Butt! I told   
you I'd be back. I always pick the right side, Ness. You may think you've   
won, but battle's just begun, Ness.The battle's just begun." Suddenly, and   
with the completely wrong timing, the chorus of the Bon Jovi song, "It's   
My Life" began to play in the backround. The next thing Ness knew,he was   
awake in his bed and his clock radio was blaring that Bon Jovi song.  
***  
He wasn't the only one to have dreams that night. Paula had had a   
long day. An elderly aunt whom she had never met had died and the funeral   
had been almost beyond endurance. Next Sunday would be the reading of the   
will and she hoped that day would not be as dreary as this one had.   
Despite her restlessness, the moment her head hit the pillow, she was   
asleep.   
She was on an alien ship. Although her captors had abducted her,   
they were very kind.They called her Maria. One of the aliens, Giegue was   
especially nice to her. She wanted to returnhis kindness, so she sang a   
song, a love song to him. Somehow, the song was like poison to him and   
because of that, she lost the trust of her captors.  
Around the same time, her husband, George had escaped, unable to   
accept their kindness as genuine. He stole their most prized treasure,   
Psi, though she never really understood how. Then he came back for her and   
they escaped back to Earth together. However, Psi seemed to almost have a   
mind of its own. Some of it "escaped", according to George. It was invisible to   
her. Once on Earth, a terrible ammount of grief settled over her. She ran   
away and her grief, sorrow and will created a world where she was queen.   
She christened the place Magicant, a variation of the aliens' word for   
distraction. Ruling the place proved to be a fine distraction.  
She'd forgotten all about the aliens and her husband. One day, a boy came   
to her, saying that he was the last hope against an evil monster called   
Giegue. She couldn't believe it. In the beginning, she pretended to know   
nothing about him, but in the end, she gave them the key to his defeat,   
hough it hurt her more than anyone ever knew. Magicant disappeared since   
she needed itno longer, but she never really got over what had happened.   
The next thing Paula knew, her mother was banging on the door.  
"Paula! Ness is here!"   
"What!" She cried in disbelief and looked over at her alarm clock.   
It was twelve thirty. He was very late.   
Paula opened her door. Ness looked as though he was ready to give   
a very lenghthy explanation of his absense, but both he and Paula's mother   
turned and gave a little gasp when she entered the room.   
"I, um kind of slept in."  
Ness recovered more quickly than her mother. "That's okay. I did   
too. I'll just come back for you in an hour..."  
"Make it fourty-five minutes."   
"Okay, see you then."   
After he had teleported away, Paula's mother turned to her. "You   
know what? He looks kind of like someone I knew when I was your age. Ah,   
memories."  
"I've got to get ready." Paula was already heading back to her   
room.  
"He was my boyfriend for five years." Her mother  
added, a little louder.Paula stopped dead in her tracks.   
"What are you implying?"  
"I wish we would have stayed in touch."  
"You're impossible!" Paula stormed back to her room.   
Paula's dad came in to the room. "You know, you should really stop   
teasing her, Ana."  
"I know, I know." A moment later, she added, "He has the same red   
cap and everything."  
"She's right. You are impossible."  
"I'll take that as a compliment." They both laughed.  
Meanwhile, Paula was trying to tame her hair. It looked kind of   
like Diana Ross's hair onthat Vh1 special, except far worse.   
"She's worse than Jeff." Paula paused for a moment to comb through   
a rat's nest. "Imagine!"   
***  
Ness teleported to Summers, where Poo and Jeff were waiting.   
"Where were you?" Jeff asked.   
"I slept in. When I woke up, it was noon."  
"Was Paula mad? Where is she, anyway?"   
"She was sleeping when I got there. I'm going to go back and pick  
her up in fourty-five minutes.  
"You really lucked out. I know some people whose girlfriends   
would..."  
"Jeff!" Ness interrupted warningly.  
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding."  
***  
Fourty-five minutes later, a silence had fallen over the group.   
"I can't come next week," they all said at the same time. After a   
moment, they all burst out laughing.   
Paula spoke first. "You know that my aunt died and yesturday was   
the funeral, right?"   
Everyone nodded. "Well, next Sunday is the reading of the will. I don't   
know why I have to go. I've never met her before, so I don't see why she   
would leave me anything."  
Ness was next. "I'm going up to my grandparents' house in Podunk.   
They're my dad's parents, but he can't come because he's tied up at work."  
"Your dad is always tied up at work. Doesn't he ever come home?"   
Jeff commented.  
"He tried to come home for my birthday, but it didn't work out."  
"Geez. I wonder what could make him so busy. Anyway, my dad and I   
are working on this new invention and Sunday is my only free day next week,   
so..."  
"We completely understand, Jeff," Paula replied.  
"What about you, Poo?" Ness asked.  
"An ambassador and his daughter are coming next week. It is of the   
upmost importance thatI am there to greet them."  
The rest of the picnic was spent discussing how next Sunday would   
be spent. Little did they realize that it would not be anything like they   
expected.  
  
  
  



	2. Descendants

Disclaimer: I don't feel I have to write a disclaimer for every part.  
  
Author's Note: Well, it would not be an Earthbound sequel without Pokey. I included him in this   
chapter's activites.  
  
The Forgotten Past Part 2: Descendants  
  
Pokey was flying through space in an updated version of his Spider Mech. It had taken him  
this long to make his armor space worthy and now it was time to put it to the test. One day, he  
would come back for his revenge on Ness, but now was not the time.   
Between the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, Pokey spotted a gigantic spaceship. "Aliens   
exist! What a discovery!"  
One of the aliens appeared on the comm screen. It looked female and had a human face,   
except for the fact that its skin was teal. Its hair was a muted purple, pulled back and so un-  
kept that it looked like something out of an anime.  
"I am Ganiana, second in command of this vessel. Who are you and what are you doing   
here?" The voice sounded female as well and her mouth didn't move right for what she was saying.  
Pokey was glad he'd installed a translator.  
"I am Pokey of planet Earth..."  
"Earth!" she interrupted, her voice dripping with discust. "How dare you show your face  
to the Giygans after what you've done!" A large weapon ten times the size of the Spider Mech   
materialized on the front of the ship.  
"Giygans? Like Giygas? Wait a minute! What's going on here? What have I done to you?"  
"You know of Giygas?"  
"Yeah. I was his right-hand man."  
"Pawn, you mean. Giygas is our oldest and best warrior. He would never stoop to allying  
himself with someone of a lower race such as humans."  
Naturally, Pokey was angered by the remark. "Was, you mean! He was defeated by four   
children."  
"The children, they used Psi?" There was no change in her expression or tone.  
"Most of them."  
"Then they used our own weapon against us. Psi was stolen from us by a human."  
"Hmm," thought Pokey. "Who would have ever suspected? All of Ness's power came from his   
enemy." Out loud, he replied, "Well, I don't use Psi. Not all of us humans are the enemy, you   
know."   
"I don't know about you quite yet. You helped someone who wanted to control your planet   
and destroy its inhabitants and the reason you don't use Psi is because it requires, among other   
things, a strong mind to control it."  
The remark stung, but she was pointing the giant gun at him. "Why don't you just  
destroy the humans who use Psi?"  
"When it was taken, the person who took it, didn't have a strong enough mind to control  
it all and some escaped. Psi will always be in the planet's atmosphere, so its sentient inhabit-  
ants need to be destroyed."  
"That's taking it a bit far, don't you think? Why don't you just destroy the human that   
stole it?"  
"He's already dead."  
"Okay, well, what about his descendants?" Her stern visage changed slightly and Pokey   
his breath as he waited for her reply.  
***  
Ness stood on the doorstep of his grandparents' home. The ride had been almost unbearable.  
Tracy wouldn't stop bugging him about Paula and his mom wouldn't raise a finger to make her stop.  
"Hello, Julia. It's been ages!" his grandmother exclaimed. She turned to Ness and Tracy  
and gasped. "Both of you have gotten so tall! Ness, I want to hear all about your adventures! You  
are so much like your father. He had a lot of adventures when he was younger. And what's this I  
hear about a girlfriend?"  
"It's nothing," Ness replied at the same time that Tracy said, "Her name is Paula."  
Ten minutes later, the main topic of conversation was still Ness and his adventures, but   
his imput was no longer necessary. He snuck away from the three of them and walked up the stairs  
to his dad's old bedroom.   
The single bed, desk and dresser were all in the same place they'd been since the day   
they had first been placed in the room. All of the rest of his father's things were in boxes in   
the closet or in the attic in Onett. The floor was hardwood with a single rug in the center.  
Since there was nothing else to do, Ness decided to look through some of his dad's old  
stuff. Maybe he'd learn something about those adventures his grandma had mentioned. As he crossed  
the room, he stepped on a loose floorboard underneath the rug and tripped. The next thing he  
knew, his body was in an L shape, with his feet in the air. He'd taken the rug with him and most  
of it was under the bed. Ness rolled onto his stomach and brought his feet to the floor. Not far  
away was a hole in the floor, around the center of where the rug was supposed to be.   
"Some secret hiding place," Ness muttered, then got up and went over to check it out.   
Inside were a photo album, something that resembled a bat and a diary that looked older  
than anything else. Ness flipped through the photo album first. The places that some of the   
photos were taken were so unusual, Ness knew they could have only been taken by one person.   
"How old is Mr. Fuzzy Pickles, anyway?" The next thing that he looked through was the journal.  
It was written by a guy named George took hours to read through the whole thing. They told of how  
he and his wife, Maria were abducted by aliens called Giygans. ("Giygas," Ness muttered.) It told  
the same abduction story as Paula's dream, except from George's point of view. There was no   
mention of the song incident and he gave no reason for stealing Psi. After the two of them came   
back to Earth, George moved he and his son to Podunk and he started what would later become a   
multi million dollar corporation, which Ness's grandpa had unwittingly sold for a small price.   
It was where Ness's dad worked today. He was always convinced that the Giygans were after him,  
wanting to pay him back for stealing Psi.  
"I've gotta tell the others about this," Ness muttered and put the diary in his backpack.  
***  
Loid Andonuts and his son Jeff were hard at work on the Sky Runner upgrade. This one,   
Dr. Andonuts promised, would not crash every time it was used. It also meant that Jeff would not  
have to bum a ride from Poo every Sunday.   
Jeff's mind was on other things. He envied Ness big time. No matter what he and Paula  
said, Jeff would bet every electronic appliance he owned that those two would get married some  
day, or at least go out for a really long time. It wasn't that he liked Paula as anything more  
than a friend, it was just that, well, he wanted to have a girlfriend, too.  
His father recognized the look on Jeff's face because he had wore it several times. "You  
know, Jeff, when I was your age, I went on an adventure as well." Jeff looked up, a little   
shocked,but said nothing. "At the end, I was so jealous of our leader because he and the girl in   
our group were really close and I was certain they would get married."  
"Did they?"  
"No. They went out for five years and then parted ways on good terms, but I still   
thought that he was the luckiest man in the world. Then, I met your mother." Dr. Andonuts rarely  
spoke of his wife. All Jeff knew about his mother was that she was dead.   
"Did you still think he was lucky?"  
"Yes, but the difference was that I was lucky too." After that, they continued to work  
in silence.  
***  
"Paula! Paula wake up!" Her mother whispered as she nudged her several times.   
"Huh? What?"  
"They said your name."  
"Now that you are with us, Ms. Polestar," The lawyer muttered in a flat tone. "Your aunt   
left you the following items:..."  
The lawyer listed off a couple of things as Paula tried to get the sleep out of her eyes   
and stay focused, but his voice was like a very strong sedative. She wasn't the only one in the   
room struggling to stay awake. Only her mother seemed fully alert.   
"That should perk you up!" her mother said cheerfully after the guy was done talking.  
"What did he say?"  
"You didn't hear him?" her mother practically shouted. Everyone in the room looked at her.  
Ana smiled and patted Paula on the head. "I'll tell you when we get home, darling." The rest of  
the reading dragged by, but Paula was half asleep and couldn't tell what anyone said. The lawyer  
was either as unprofessional as he was boring or it was customary to pick up a cardboard box with  
your inherited things inside on the way out of a will reading.   
On the way home, she had finally begun to wake up. There wasn't very much inside her   
cardboard box. Just a note, a couple of pieces of old jewelry and a strange-looking frying pan.  
"Hmm, I wonder why she left me this?" Paula muttered and was about to read the note when  
her dad began singing along with the radio, which was playing the Runaway Five's trademark song.  
"Dad, leave the singing up to the Runaway Five."   
"Darling, I'm inclined to agree," Paula's mother concured. She turned off the radio.   
"This is how it's done." She began to sing a slow love song that sounded strangely familiar to  
Paula.  
Since she couldn't put a finger on why, she said, "I've never heard you sing that one  
before."   
"It's been years since I've had anything to do with that song, but I always thought it   
was a beautiful tune."  
Paula hadn't had any dreams that week, but that night definately made up for it. She   
had a strange dream that a bunch of multicolored fobies were trying to steal her ability to   
concentrate so they could use Psi. She kept protesting that the ability to concentrate was part  
of her brain and they couldn't steal it, but they persisted. The next thing she knew, she and her  
friends were battling a great enemy. The enemy had fired a Psi blast that would certainly kill  
them all. Paula instantly tried to summon a psychic shield that would absorb the blast, but it   
didn't work. She tried again and again, but her Psi refused to work. When the blast was just   
about to hit, she woke up screaming. The first thing she did was summon a psychic shield. It   
worked instantly, as always.  
***   
Poo's weekend was no less eventful than anyone else's. The ambassador had seven daughters.  
It was hoped that Poo would marry one of these daughters to strenghthen the ties between the   
countries. Of course, it was Poo's descision. No pressure.   
He had met all seven daughters. One of them was a stuck up brat. Three of them were   
airheads. Five of them were nice, but three of the nice ones were the airheads. The fourth nice  
one had no firm grasp of reality and her favorite topics of conversation were her dress and the   
world's doom. The other nice one had an obsession with the fruit punch served as part of the   
welcoming feast and, needless to say, did not talk much. The final daughter and also the youngest   
was the quietest one of all and Poo got the impression she would rather be inside a pit of   
ravenous lions than here in Dalaam. Their names, in order from oldest to youngest were Naloni  
(punch girl), Kela, Zela, Rela (the airheads), Onema (millenist), Anelia (the brat) and Shalo.  
Naturally, he was as pleasant as possible, and naturally, except for Shalo, they were  
all enraptured by the end of the night. The next few days were spent running bach and forth   
between them. He could tell his father got some pleausure out of the whole thing and so did the   
ambassador. The only time he had any time to himself was when they were sleeping and, of  
course all of them were asleep at the same time for about two hours.   
On Saturday night, Jeff called to say that he didn't need a ride because Sky Runner 2.0  
was complete and worked far better than its pretecesor. They talked for a little while and Jeff   
was sympathetic, but he could only stay on the line for fifteen minutes because of the long   
distance bill.  
At two A.M., when he assumed that all of the princesses were asleep, Poo decided to sneak  
up to the Mu place to meditate. Since this technique had always helped solve problems before, it  
seemed safe to assume that it would work now. On his way there, he bumped into someone. It was   
dark, so he couldn't tell who it was.   
"What are you doing out so late at night?" the stranger asked, irritated. The voice was  
decidedly female.   
"I could ask you the same question," Poo replied. The stranger gasped, recognizing his  
voice. The next thing he knew, the girl had blasted Psi Ice Gamma at him and took off. He blocked  
it with one of his own, but by the time the blast cleared, she was gone.   
***  
Jeff hung up the phone after talking with Poo and decided to work on his analyzer some   
more. He looked behind him and saw just how long the phone line was. After walking back to the   
end, he realized that it crossed the school horazontally and trailed out the window of a dorm room.  
People were using bedsheets as rope.   
"This place needs more than one phone," Jeff muttered and went back to his room.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Contact

Author's Note: I totally screwed up as far as how much info I put on a line goes on this part and  
part four, so I fixed them. Other than that, minimal changes were made, so if you read the original  
ones, there is no need to read these.  
  
The Forgotten Past Part 3: Contact   
Pokey held his breath as Ganiana considered.   
"I don't like you and I don't trust you," she answered at last. "But your suggestion is   
interesting.I will take it to Giegue." The comm screen faded. A green beam came out of the giant   
weapon. Instead of vaporizing him, it paralyzed his ship.   
"Great," Pokey muttered. "Now what am I supposed to do? I can't escape." It seemed like   
days before she returned with the answer.  
"He liked the idea," Ganiana informed him, seeming a little disappointed.   
"Whew," Pokey replied. "Can I go now?"  
"Not so fast. He wants you here to help us execute it." Pokey cringed at the word   
"execute". "We'll need a human like you who will be willing to help us."  
The next thing he knew, Pokey was in a Giygan version of a jail cell. There were only   
three windows and all of them were tiny. One was a force field protected space on the door,   
where they gave him food. The other two were simply barred and gave him a glimpse of the two   
cells on either side.  
Meanwhile, Ganiana and the rest of the ship's crew were hard at work. The ship was   
heading for the orbit of Mars. They also needed a test subject. They didn't want to use one of   
the descendants because then they would go through far less pain than desired. Pokey wouldn't do   
since he had no Psi.  
"Chances are, the descendents will have the strongest Psi on the planet, so..."  
"Understood." They ended up deciding on the person who had the fourth strongest Psi   
readout.  
"Tammai Marlay," Ganiana whispered as the profile came up. She was an unusually short  
girl with auburn hair and green eyes. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt sad that it was a child.  
"Ganiana, her name is Tammy Marlow. It's not like you to pronounce Earth names   
incorrectly," Jezira, another crew member and someone who had known Ganiana for years corrected   
her. "Earthlings certainly have strange names."   
"I like their names. They're interesting. Besides, they'd probably think our names are strange."  
"Okay, are we ready to go?" Jezira was often uncomfortable when Ganiana became edgy or cranky.  
"Run the bioscan just to be sure she isn't one of them."  
"Right away." A second later, "Bioscan complete. Tests are negative. She is not one of them."  
"Now. We're ready." Twenty Galactican minutes later (twenty seconds, Earth time), the   
crew had reached the home of Tammy Marlow. It was a small house, about the size of Ness's.  
Tammy was word processing a report on Amphibian anatomy (the price to pay for choosing not to   
dissect) when her room was suddenly filled with strange beings.  
"Yikes! What's going on? Who are you?" Tammy screeched.   
"Tammy, there is no way to escape. Accept capture. It is much eaisier," Ganiana told her   
in plain English.   
"How do you know my name?" Tammy demanded, backing toward her closet.   
"That is not important. Come with us." Ganiana advanced a few steps towards the girl.   
Tammy whirrled around and opened her closet door. She began frantically searching for something.  
"Ma'am, should I stun her?" One of the officers asked Ganiana in Giygan.   
"No, let's see what she does."  
"It would be more efficient..."  
"Let's see what she does. It's not that hard to overwhelm a human. I want to at least   
humor her a little."  
"Ma'am!" the officer gave her a Giygan salute and fell silent. Tammy finally came out of   
the closet with a Red Rider bee-bee gun in hand. Although her aim was good, the shots did little   
more than sting a little. She did manage to get past them and into the hallway.  
"Now we stun." Ganiana ordered. The first shot missed her by centimeters and did a little  
damage to the wall. Tammy whirrled around to face them. Another shot was fired. The aim was   
right on. She put her arms up as a shield, realizing how little that would do. Her eyes were   
barely open, but right before it was going to hit, the blast seemed to be absorbed in something.  
Ganiana muttered something vile in Giygan. She added, a little louder. "She's using Psi.   
Change the setting and fire again."  
"Psi?" was Tammy's last thought before everything went black.  
***  
Ness's alarm went off, but instead of playing music, it was in the middle of reporting   
Tammy's disappearance. The DJ was saying that the only other thing missing from the Marlow   
household was a bee-bee gun.   
"Great," Ness muttered. "Why isn't there ever any good news?"   
Down in the kitchen, Tracy was telling Mom all about her escapades with Picky yesturday.   
"And then I finally got rid of that stupid Caterpie card, but then the guy that traded with me   
beat Picky with it. Who'd have ever known it would be so useful?"  
"Hi Mom, Tracy," Ness greeted, sounding a little sleepy.  
"Ness! Apple Kid called. They changed the meeting site to Saturn Valley because he   
discovered something. I couldn'tmake out all that he said, but it had something to do with   
apples. Makes sense, I guess."  
"Thanks, Mom." Then, he added under his breath, "Apples?"  
When he went to pick Paula up, things became even more confusing. Her mom had no   
recollection of apples, but said that it had something to do with Nirvana.  
"This is great. It either means that Apple Kid has converted to Buddhism or Kirt Kobane   
is back from the dead." Ness remarked. They laughed a little, but they were too confused to think  
it was that funny.  
"We'd better get going," Paula suggested. Ness agreed and he transported them both to   
Saturn Valley.   
"Ness! Paula! Nice to see you again!" Apple Kid greeted happily. "It is amazing how both  
of you have the same sleeping patterns."  
"Nice to see you too," Ness replied, "Now what is this about apples and Nirvana?"  
"Huh?"  
"It was all our mothers could pick out of what you were saying. You were talking too   
fast." Paula clarified.  
"Oh. OH! I get it now. It's easier to explain it to all of you at once. Come this way.   
Jeff arrived a few minutes ago.   
Once Poo arrives..." At that moment, the sound of teleportation could be heard. "Nevermind."  
"Hello everyone." said a very sleepy Poo. "What is this Chapel of Light? It was all the   
ambassador could understand when you called."  
"Come on. Jeff is waiting. It'll be easier if I explain it to everyone at once." Apple   
Kid led the way to one of the Mr. Saturn's houses. Inside was a giant computer with a 32 inch   
moniter. Six chairs were positioned around it. Jeff occupied one of the chairs and a Mr. Saturn   
was in another.   
"Welcome! Boing!" the MS (Mr. Saturn) greeted. As usual, he talked with that strange,   
hard-to-understand accent.  
"Hi guys!" Jeff added. He looked like he was going to say something else, but Apple Kid   
sat down in the chair closest to the computer monitor and began pushing buttons, indicating that   
it was time for the long-awaited explanation.  
"The reason I asked all of you to come here is because the Saturns and I have detected   
the presence of a large, extraterrestrial vehicle slowly approaching planet Earth. "  
"Extraterrestrial?" Ness asked.  
"Alien. Haven't you ever seen the movie E.T.?"   
"No."  
"Are you sure it's heading for Earth?" Paula inquired.  
"For the time being, yes. It is heading in that general direction. Here's a visual. It is  
roughly a fourth the size of the moon." The ship was a almost boring metalic grey, the color of   
steel. There was no decoration, no real color to it. The ship was narrow in the front of the ship,  
but widened out in the back, where it looked like the engines were. Nothing that resembled   
a weapon was visible.  
"Now look at this." Apple Kid pushed a few buttons and the ship shrank to about a fifth   
of the screen. Another, smaller black ship that was about the size of a cockroach on the screen   
approached the giant. After a minute, a large cannon-like thing emerged from the bottom of the   
front of the ship. A few seconds later, a green beam of light shot out of the cannon and   
surrounded the smaller ship. Apple Kid stopped the video.  
"They're coming this way and they're armed. This doesn't look good." Apple Kid warned.   
"Also, does that smaller ship look familiar to any of you?" It didn't. "How about when I do   
this?" He used the cursor to make a box around the smaller ship. After pushing a couple of   
buttons, the ship enlarged to take up most of the screen.   
"The Spider Mech!" the chosen four cried out.  
"Exactly." He played the rest of the clip, which involved the Spider Mech getting sucked   
into the very metal of the other ship, along with the weird weapon.  
"I was also able to intecept a few messages, both to and from the ship. Of course, they   
were in another language and I was not able to translate much."  
"What were you able to translate?" Paula asked.   
"Well, interestingly enough, they call themselves the Giygans."  
"WHAT?" they all screamed at once.  
"You mean there's a whole race of Giygases?!" Ness exclaimed.   
"Apparently so. Most of the other reports mention someone or something called the Apple   
of Enlightenment. I don't know very much about that, but he seems to be a prophet of some sort."  
"The Apple of Enlightenment? Hey, remember the Stonehenge base?" Ness remarked.  
"Who could forget?" Apple Kid muttered. "It's where I got claustrophobia."  
"You weren't there when this happened, but didn't that Starman Deluxe mention something   
about the Apple of Enlightenment?"  
"Yeah!" Paula remembered. "He said that he would not allow the Apple of Enlightenment's   
prediction to come true."  
"Well, it did, didn't it?" Jeff stated. "I mean, we defeated Giygas."  
"What if you didn't?" Apple Kid asked. "What if there was more to it than that?"  
"What do you think, Poo?" Ness asked. There was no answer. Ness looked to where Poo was   
sitting. A loud snore filled the tiny house.   
"He's had a rough week," Jeff said. They all looked at him. "Well, let's just put it this  
way. The only time he has to himself is from two until four in the morning."  
"If that's the case, we'd better let him sleep." Paula replied.   
"Is there anything else? Any real information about the species as a whole?" Jeff asked.  
"Not much. They are conquerers, but you've probably already guessed that. Their empire   
takes up most of the galaxy and has been in around for about 500 years. Earth is on the fringe   
of it. My guess is that Giygas was sent to conquer it."  
"Giygas was pretty strong," Jeff reasoned. "I mean, we couldn't beat him without   
everyone's prayers. Was he... weak?"  
"From what I can decipher, Giygas was powerful. But, he was just one warrior."  
"Still, doesn't sending someone like that to a planet like this seem like overkill?"  
"We did beat him," Paula pointed out.  
"It's because of Psi," Ness said suddenly, remembering his great-grandfather's journal.   
Everyone turned to look at him. "They knew we had Psi."  
"How would they know that?" Apple Kid asked.  
"Well, umm... This is going to sound strange." He reached into his backpack and pulled   
out the journal. "Well, when I was at my grandma's house, I found this. I think it belonged to my   
great-grandpa." He began to tell what the journal said, in a nutshell. Paula's face became paler   
and paler, remembering the dream. [It was true. My dream was true.] At the end of the narrative,   
Ness asked, "Paula are you okay?"  
Her face changed from white to red. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
"You looked pretty pale for a second there." Jeff and Apple Kid nodded their agreement.  
"I'm fine!" she protested and all of them backed off.  
***  
That night, the Chosen Four shared the same dream.   
The room was dark, except for the light of a torch on the wall. Two men stood in the dark.  
The shorter one had huge arms and skin that seemed a shade of yellow-green. His hair was in a   
buzz cut and in the light, all you could tell was that it was dark. His clothing suggested that   
he was very important, but was not the clothing of a human. The taller man also seemed to be   
important, though not as important. His clothes seemed to indicate that he was a priest of   
prophet and his manner did as well. He had a long,dark beard and a cloak covered most of his head   
and cast his face into a shadow.   
"Why are you here?" the taller man asked calmly. His voice was deep and steady.  
"You know why," the shorter one replied angrily, as though the priest's infinite calm   
annoyed him.  
"Then you must know how little I will tell you."  
"You do realize that, in my true form, I could crush you like a bug!"  
"Yes. But you won't." the short man clenched his fists in anger for what the other one   
had said was true.   
"Tell me what I want to know. I need to know!"  
"You won't like the answer, Giegue."  
"TELL ME!!"  
"He will fail and die. His main adversaries will be mere children, three boys and a girl."  
"That can't happen. It won't happen! I won't let it!"  
"I told you you wouldn't like the answer," the tall man said, but Giegue was no longer   
listening. In fact, he was walking away.  
"Oh, yeah. This meeting never happened!" Giegue declared as he exited the room.   
"He was always too emotional," the priest said, shaking his head. The scene faded to black.   
From the darkness came a voice. It matched the voice of the priest, except it seemed to   
echo strangely.  
"I am the being known as the Apple of Enlightenment. I am also the last member of a raceknown as   
the Nara, which is Giygan for storytellers. We had the ability to see glimpses of the future, but   
I was one of the most powerful of all time. The Giygans have discovered that Giygas failed.   
They will send more soldiers, but it is not for the reason you think. If they wanted Earth   
conquered, it would have been already, but I have a feeling you could have guessed that.   
Remember this: the key to the unknown future is in the forgotten past. It is all I can tell you   
now. Good luck!"  
When they woke up, all of them had the knowledge that they had to get to Ellay.  
  
  
  
  



	4. Preparations

  
  
A/N: I can't think of anything to say.  
  
The Forgotten Past Part 4: Preparations  
It was a rainy morning in the city of Ellay. On one of the many busy streets   
was a small cafe. The atmosphere inside hinted toward the fact that it had once been a bar.  
The only person working there was a guy named   
Teddy. He was tall and spent a lot of time at the gym. The latter   
was apparent just by looking at him.The only real sign that he was actually approaching   
sixty was his graying hair.   
Teddy whistled the chorous of "Hotel California" as he scrubbed down the counter. When  
he heard the sound of   
the door opening, he stopped humming and looked up. When he saw who was there, his expression hardened.   
Another man entered. He wore a trench coat that covered any noticeable physical features.  
"What have you decided?" Teddy asked.  
"I'm not going to tell his family."  
"But if we're right, then they will be next."  
"We are right. There is no other reason that makes sense."  
"Then we should at least protect them! We're doing nothing to stop it from happening again."  
"It already happened again."  
"You mean Tammy Marlow?"  
"Yeah. Thank God I got there before the police. This time, they made no attempt to be secretive."  
"So you covered their tracks." Teddy got out a glass. "What'll it be?"   
"The usual."  
"Sorry, but there isn't a place in Ellay that sells your usual anymore."   
The man looked shocked, but it was hard to be sure. "What do people do?"  
"They go on caffine binges. I've seen people on their 30th expresso, tottering down the steet,   
so hyper,  
they mutter nonsense words." The other man shuddered at the image.  
"I'll just have some ice water."  
"Whatever you say." Teddy poured him a glass and the man took a sip. Then, Teddy's expression   
grew more serious. "I don't like this. We're helping them by covering it up."  
"We're preventing the matter from escalating. If people realized what was going on, there'd be   
widespread painic."   
"I still don't like it, Jack. If this goes on much longer, you are going to have to find someone   
else to do your dirty work."  
"Are you sure you want to do that?"  
"I once met someone who told me that the discovery of truth was the most important objective   
in life."  
"That hurts, Ted."  
"Do you have any idea where they might strike next?"  
"No."  
"Do you want some more ice water?" Jack looked down at his ice-filled glass.   
"No thanks. I'd better get going. Something mysterious has happened in Dalaam."   
He got up from his place at the counter and exited the cafe. The rain was falling harder now.   
It came down in sheets due to the strong wind. Jackshook his head as he wondered how his life had ended   
up this way.  
***  
Poo woke up to find nothing but chaos. He had discovered upon his return that Shalo, the youngest  
daughter  
had been missing for two days. As the ambassador had put it, she was loose in the world. Although the   
entire castle was in an uproar, only Naloni seemed truely sorry that Shalo was gone. He knew that she   
wasn't very talkative, but he'd thought it was because she hadn't really wanted to be there.   
"First we must search Dalaam. She couldn't have gotten very far." Poo's father, King Tigarn   
ordered. Poo noticed  
how uncomfortable Naloni seemed as he said this. "Explore everywhere, including Pink Cloud."   
Poo was just about to leave when Naloni pulled him aside.  
"Poo, Shalo could be anywhere. She has powers like you have."  
"Psi?"  
"Yeah. She hides them because she doesn't like a lot of attention. The point is, she can   
teleport."  
"Do you have any idea where she might be?"  
"No, she didn't tell me anything, except that she wanted to see a big city."  
"Fourside?"   
"She didn't say which one." Poo remebered the dream from the night before. He wondered if   
Ellay was a big city.  
Instead of heading out with the search party, Poo decided to go to Onett. When he realized that   
Ness was in school for another two weeks, he headed to Twoson and Polestar Preschool. Paula answered the   
door.  
"Hi, Poo. What a surprise." He explained the situation. "You had that dream, too?" He nodded.   
"Well, we'd better rule out Fourside, at least. Could you head there? I'll get a hold of Jeff and try   
to findout more about Ellay."  
"I'll come back later with my findings. What about Ness?"   
"He won't be out of school until 6:00. It seems like his makeup work never ends."  
"Paula! Come watch the movie with us!" one of the little kids called.  
"I've gotta go. See you later, Poo." He teleported away and she closed the door.  
***  
"And remember class that the tangent of the angle is equal to the slope. Now on to cosins. Bla,   
bla bla bla..."Ness's teacher's words seemed to blur together. It wasn't that he was tired, it was his   
lack of interest and the teacher's lack of expression that made math class 45 minutes too long.   
[Just two more weeks and I'm outta here.] he thought.  
When he got home from school, he found Jeff's Sky Runner in the front yard. [I wonder what he   
wants.]   
"Hi, Ness."  
"How long have you been waiting?" Ness dropped his backpack on the floor. Jeff could tell by the   
loud sound and the thickness of the backpack that Ness had a lot of homework.  
"Not long. Looks like they're really loading it on, aren't they?"  
"They always do at the end of the year. Hey, did you have a really weird dream last night?"  
"Yeah." Jeff pushed his glasses up on his nose, but the tape that held them together broke apart   
and the two halves fell to the floor. Luckily, Jeff wasn't completely blind without glasses and was able   
to find the two halves without damaging them further. Ness found the duct tape and handed it to Jeff.   
"I didn't have any duct tape availabe when I taped them last.I should look into getting new glasses."  
"So, uh why are you here?"  
"Well, Paula called me earlier. She said that a daughter of the ambassador at Poo's ran away.   
Apparently, she can use Psi. We were hoping you would help us look for her, but it looks like you have   
your hands full."  
"Are you kidding! I just spent the last ten hours in school. The last thing I want to do is more  
school. Do we have any idea where she might be?"  
"A big city."  
"I suppose you've already checked Fourside."  
"Poo checked every inch three times, even Magnet Hill."   
Ness considered for a moment. "I wonder if Ellay is a big city."  
"You had that dream too? Paula, Poo and I had the same dream."  
"Two guys talking and then..."  
"Yeah."  
"It looks like another adventure is beginning, but it can't start for another two weeks. I did   
not work this hard just to go to summer school."  
"It'll probably take Apple Kid and I that long to find the city and to figure out a little more   
about what's going on."  
"We'd better get going." They rode in the Sky Runner 2.0 to Dalaam, where Paula and Poo were   
waiting. The search party had reassembled and looked puzzled.   
Paula waved to Jeff and Ness. "Hi, guys." After the greetings, everyone was brought up to  
speed. Paula had checked Summers earlier that afternoon and Jeff investigated Scaraba.   
"The only question I have besides 'Where is Ellay?' is has she ever been to Ellay before?  
We know you can only teleport to places you've been," Ness said.  
"I'll ask him," Poo answered.   
"I'm going to contact Apple Kid and see if we can find out more about Ellay, like where   
it's located." Jeff informed them.  
"Why would she ever think to go to Ellay in the first place? Did she have a dream about it like   
we did or is there some other reason she wants to go there?" Paula wondered.   
"I guess we'll find out. If she's there, of course," Ness replied. "You guys should just go   
ahead as soon as you can."  
"No way. Two weeks isn't that long. It's like I said, we don't know how long the research will   
take, in any case." Jeff told him. The others were nodding in agreement. "We should probably tell  
the ambassador and your dad about this, though," he addedto Poo, who nodded. From there, they   
decided to rule out any other cities that might seem large. Ness and Paula investigated Onett and Jeff   
and Poo checked out Threed. Both parties were unsuccessful.   
Afterwards, Poo explained the situation to Naloni. "I will not mention her Psi, but they   
should know that she was planning to go to a big city and could be anywhere."  
"That's as good as mentioning her Psi! Besides, they'll want to know how you know. It's   
pretty obvious she practically ignored you."  
"Then maybe you should tell them."  
"You don't understand anything!"  
"I understand she left because she wanted to, but I have seen the world and I know she   
could be in trouble." The conversation ended there. The next day, the ambassador announced that  
Shalo could be anywhere and he had contacted the authorities in a city called Ellay, where it was  
suspected she might be. Naloni did not speak to Poo too much afterwards.   
***  
Apple Kid and Jeff were hard at work looking up information on Ellay. Although they did   
discover where it was located and that it was a large city, they did not discover much modern   
news. Most of what they found on the internet and from travel agencies concerned the fact that   
there wasn't a bar in the city.   
"We only have a week left and we still haven't found a decent map of the place!" Jeff exclaimed.   
"It must be a boring city. There are hardly any points of interest," Apple Kid added.  
Jeff glanced at a clock on the wall. It read 7:34. "I have to head back to school pretty   
soon, or else I'll be up until midnight."  
"Jeez, my school gives hardly any homework at the end of the year. How long do you have left?"   
"Three days. Most of it is studying for finals."  
"My school doesn't have finals."  
"You are really lucky." Jeff and Apple Kid fell silent as their less-than-state-of-the-  
art computers loaded up Ellay sites.After a few moments of clicking, waiting, then reading, then   
clicking again, Jeff exclaimed, "Look at this! A map!"  
"A good map, too," Apple Kid began hooking the printer up to Jeff's computer. "Now we're   
on our way!"  
***  
Ness was in charge of getting supplies, mainly because he had the most money. Although   
his mother had stored most of it in a trust fund for college, he still had about ten thousand   
dollars. His dad no longer put royal ammounts of cash in his account,since he no longer had to   
save the world.   
[Let's see here... horns of life, check. Brain food lunches, double check. Everyone's   
got their own weapons and armor.   
Looks like the only thing that's left is... tomato soup? Who put that on there? Oh, yeah. That's   
fuel for the Sky Runner. Tomato soup's cheapest in Twoson.] He shoved the list in his pocket and   
teleported from Dalaam to Twoson. As he hurried to the departmentstore, he heard the voice of one  
of the Polestar kids. "That's him, Mom! He's Paula's friend. They saved the world." he tugged on  
a very tired-looking woman's skirt. "Can I get his autograph, Mommy? Please?" The woman looked at  
him wearily.   
"Would you mind?"  
"YAY!"   
"Of course not." Ness replied quickly. The little boy took off his baseball hat and   
handed it to Ness.   
"Sighn it right there," the boy pointed to the rim of the hat. Ness took out his pen and   
hastily autographed it. The boy studied his signature intently.  
"Thank you." his mother sounded relieved. "What brings you to Twoson?"  
"Cheap tomato soup." They both laughed. "I'd better get going."  
"Thanks again!" After that, he walked into the store and was unnoticed until he   
purchased 36 cans of tomato soup. Everyonein the store marveled at his mysterious ability to fit  
all of them into his backpack and then actually lift it. The amazing thing was the backpack did   
not seem any more full than it had when he had walked into the store. 


	5. Journey

  
  
  
A/N: Sorry it took me so long.  
The Forgotten Past Part 5: Journey  
After his meeting with Teddy, Jack went back to his residence just outside the city. It was   
the view thatmade him choose that place more than anything else. He lived on a hill that overlooked all  
of Ellay. At night, he could see all of the lights in the city.  
The house had a wrap-around porch that overlooked the valley. Although it was huge, the only piece of   
furniture was a comfortable-looking deck chair. Tonight, there was also a telescope.  
One of Jack's passions as a child had been astronomy. He could navigateby the stars, no matter  
what time of year. He had also studied the zodiacs and could predict as accurately as any newspaper.   
Tonight, he had brought his telescope on the deck to watch the constallations. The clouds from the   
afternoon rain had cleared away and the sky was bright and clear.   
"Mars keeps getting brighter and brighter," he muttered and then turned his attention to   
constallations. First he located the easy ones: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. From their location,   
he could find the Polestar, or the North Star. He was about to locate one of the larger ones   
when his cell phone rang.   
"Hello?..... Ambassador's daugter? Why the wide search?... You really think she   
could have gotten this far?...... Oh, I see. ......... Yes, I'm on my way. Good-bye." Jack put his  
telescope back inside. "The work of a   
government agent never ceases," Jack muttered. He remembered Teddy's comment. "It's easy for   
him to say he wants to leave. He doesn't realize he's in deep." Mentally, he added, "And he's  
never tried to leave."  
Jack drove to the cafe where Teddy worked and took a seat at a bar stool. "Hey, Ted,   
have you ever seen this girl?" Jack took out a picture of Shalo the office had faxed him.  
"I would have remembered a face like that. She lookes like that one girl in Crouching  
Tiger, Hidden Dragon."  
"The younger one?"  
"Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for her and call you the moment I find something out."  
"I'm going to keep checking around. I'll keep you informed. See you later." Teddy   
watched as Jack left. He glanced at a picture hidden behind the counter.It was of three kids.One   
was in a red cap, the other was a blond girl and the third was a boy in a red shirt and glasses.  
He sighed, thinking of the adventure of a lifetime that had taken place in a past almost forgotten.  
***  
Ness ran out of school on a glorious June afternoon. His last day of school was finally   
over. His backpack was the lightest it had been since before that fateful  
encounter with the meteorite. He was almost happy to be going on   
another adventure. This time, at least, it would be three months before he would need to make anything  
up.   
The moment he walked up to his front yard, the Sky Runner landed. Miraculously, it did not crash.   
A moment later, Jeff appeared.  
"Hi, Jeff."  
"Hi, Ness. If we are going to Ellay, we have to leave, pronto."  
"Why?"  
"The ambassador promised that if we waited until tommorrow, we would feel the wrath   
of his deity."  
"I'll get my stuff." Ness ran inside and grabbed his yellow backpack.   
"Mom!" Julia walked quickly to the entryway. "I've got to leave right away."  
It took her a long time to answer. "Well, I know this is important, Ness. Somehow, I'm  
more worried about you this time than I was before. Call it being a worrywart or mother's   
intuition, but I want you to be careful."   
"You know I'll be careful, Mom."  
She nodded and forced her face into a smile. "You did remember to pack more than one pair  
of clothes this time, right?"  
"Yes, Mom." he replied with exasperation.   
"Tracy, Ness is leaving!" Julia called up the stairs.  
"Okay! I'm coming!" Tracy bounded down the stairs. "I knew they'd find a way to make   
you leave early, so I had my speech all prepared. Have a good time. Try to be back before school  
starts, so you don't have anything to make up. Most imortantly, do not use anyone but the Escargo  
Express for all of your item storage needs. I think I can get you a discount."  
Ness and Jeff laughed. "Okay, Tracy," Ness replied.  
"See you later! Spread the Express revolution!"   
"You know I don't endorce products. If I did it once, ten million others would want me to."  
"I know." Ness and Jeff waved their final good-byes and boarded the Sky Runner.  
"So, Jeff, how did you get the idea to use tomato soup for fuel?"  
"It was my dad's idea. He said it was very obtainable and better for the enviornment."  
"That's true, I suppose. Hi, Poo."  
"Hello."   
(Sky Runner theme starts up as it takes off.) They traveled to Twoson and picked up Paula and   
Apple Kid. After that, it traveled high in the sky, dipping down over a mountain range.  
"Jeff! Stop it! This is how we crashed last time!" Paula could be heard from  
outside the Sky Runner.  
"Calm, down, Paula. I know what I'm doing." The Sky Runner rose back to the clouds.  
After a little while, it dipped down again. This time, it is over a vast desert. Jeff looked at the  
map. [That's funny. I don't remember any desert being located near Ellay. Where's the interstate?]  
"Jeff, I'm begging you," Paula pleaded.  
"Paula, we're not going to crash."  
"Jeff, we're going down," Ness warned.  
"We're fine."  
"Jeff, we are fairly close to the ground. Please watch where we are going," Poo suggested.  
(Sky Runner music quiets down as the view shifts to inside.) Jeff decided to listen and began to  
pull up again. He happened to glance at the fuel gauge and immediately began to point it back down.   
" We're low on fuel. I'll have to land it."  
"I'll get the tomato soup," Poo offered.  
"That was fuel?" Apple Kid groaned. He was sitting in the back, so everyone turned around.  
They noticed several empty soup cans.  
"How did you manage to stomach that many cans without us noticing?" Ness asked.   
"It's my latest invention: the pocket lazer." He pulled something that looked like a lazer  
light. "It can cut though titanium. It can also be used for cooking."Everyone groaned and braced   
themselves for impact. (View shifts to outside and the music becomes louder again.Sky Runner music   
cuts off the second they crash to the ground) One by one, all five of them emerged from the wreckage.   
"Jeff, you need to work on landing," Ness commented, the biggest understatement of the year.  
"I understand that," he replied tersly.   
"It's no big deal," Paula said calmingly. "Poo or Ness will just have to teleport to get  
more fuel. You can fix the Runner, right?"  
Jeff inspected the mangled machinery. "I think so."  
"I think we've all learned a lesson from this as well," she added, glaring at Jeff.  
"Ask before you eat," Apple Kid muttered.  
"I will get more fuel," Poo offered.   
Ness gave him some money."It's cheapest in Twoson." Poo moved a ways away and tried to use  
Teleport Beta.  
"It doesn't work."  
"What?" Ness cried. "We're not in an enclosed space." He tried to use it and felt the   
familiar block within his mind. "This is weird."  
"We still have two cans left," Jeff reported. "Unfortunately, that would barely get us off  
the ground."  
"We'll just have to walk there." Apple Kid sounded as though this was an awesome feat.   
"How far is it? What direction do we go?"  
"Let me get the navigation systems running," Jeff replied. After a moment, he added, "It's  
30 miles in a south by southwest direction. I did bring a compass."  
"How many wet towels did we bring?" Paula asked.  
"I stashed five inside the Runner for emergencies," Jeff answered.  
"Let's get going," Ness said. It took awile to salvage what they could from the Sky Runner  
and then decide what to leave behind. By the time it was all sorted out, night had fallen, so  
they decided to just stay put until morning. For supper, they enjoyed the Dalaamesse cuisine known  
as the brain food lunch.   
"What's in this stuff?" Apple Kid asked at first glance.   
"Don't ask, just eat. It tastes better than it looks," Ness replied. It was his way of   
saying he had absolutely no idea what was in it and preferred not to think about it.  
"According to computer, this place has a lot of sand dunes-" Jeff began.  
"You're right! This is good stuff!" Apple Kid interjected.  
"So, it will be a very long day tomorrow," Jeff finished.  
"Let's think about tomorrow tomorrow," Ness suggested. "Chances are, we'll sleep better."  
From then on, they ate in silence.   
It turned out Jeff was right about the sand dunes. Although thirty miles was achieveable  
in a day, the dunes made it twice or three times the distance. Everyone was hot and miserable,   
especially Apple Kid, who ended up needing all five wet towels. It was close to sunset when the  
enemies began to appear. The first was a snake. It was very fast, so they couldn't even hit it.  
"I don't get it," Ness muttered. "I thought once we defeated Giygas, the animals would  
quit attacking with no good reason. I haven't seen a Runaway Dog in ages."  
"Maybe it's just the type of snake," Jeff suggested as he finally managed to hit it. The  
snake suddenly became docile, even friendly. "Let's pretend I never said that."  
(Thank you for setting me free), the snake said. (One day, I wandered near the big human-  
place. There was some kind of barrier that didn't allow me to go any farther. When I came back,  
everyone was acting crazy and somehow, I began acting crazy, too. Thanks again!) It to slithered away.   
"Well, at least we know why teleportation doesn't work," Poo said optimistically.  
"Let's get going," Ness suggested. "We might be able to find some more answers as we go  
along." The next couple of enemies, which were a couple more snakes and a large variety of small  
rodents, revealed little information that they did not know already.   
It was only after they defeated a large lizard that anything new came up. It declared that  
a week ago, something crashed into his home, virtually destroying it. The strange thing about it was  
that the mysterious object seemed to be invisible.   
"Where is your home?" Ness asked.   
(You mean was,) the lizard commented dryly. (Follow me.) After a half an hour of following it,  
they finally arrived at a sand dune fifty yards high. (This was it. Good luck.) It scurried away, never  
to be seen again. Everyone looked at Jeff. He wordlessly took out a bottle rocket and aimed it at the   
dune. It took three more before the dune was completely gone.  
No one noticed a small statue erupting from the sand until it used Rockin Alpha. This was  
forgivable because the statue was barely the size of a sewing needle.   
"What's going on?" Paula cried out. She immediately put a phsychic shield around all of them.  
It was Jeff who noticed it first. His weapon could aim like a sniper rifle.   
"I think it's a Mani Mani statue. A really small one."  
"How are we supposed to attack it?" Ness wondered, trying to spot it. Jeff fired carefully  
"Leave that to me." Jeff replied. He managed to hit the statue. It retaliated by repeating  
its opening attack. Thanks to Paula's shield, the blast was reflected and the statue was defeated.  
The next thing they knew, they were standing in the middle of a six-lane highway. In the   
distance, they could see a large city. For a few moments, it was a frenzy as they struggled to avoid  
the cars and trucks in hopes of getting to the other side. Miraculously, they got through made   
unscathed and there were only minor vehicle crashes.   
"That was strange," Apple Kid muttered. "How did such a tiny object create such a powerful  
illusion at such a large scale? Look around. The landscape is completely different."  
"That's what a Mani Mani statue does," Jeff replied. "It creates illusions. I believe it also  
has some psychological side effects on the owner."  
"Pity we had to destroy it," Apple Kid mused. "It would have been interesting to study."  
"Yes," Jeff agreed with an undertone of reluctance. Apple Kid had no real grasp of what a full  
scale statue was capable of.  
***  
"It was destroyed?!" Jezira screeched. The testing of the Mani Mani statue had been her first  
big mission. [It's unlike you to be so emotional.] She cautioned herself. [You've been around Ganiana   
too much.] "How did this come to take place." she asked, trying to sound calm, but she was unable to   
keep all of the impatience out of her voice.  
"We're not sure." the subordinate replied. "A crew is investigating as we speak.  
"Thank you for informing me. Before this happened, how did the tests go?"  
"Smoothly. We were unable to detect any problems."  
"I will report this information to Ganiana. Thank you for your trouble. Dismissed!" They left  
in different directions.   
Jezira thought of Ganiana. How did someone so arrogant and, well emotional become second in   
command of a ship when she, who had been working for several years longer had just gotten command of  
a third-rate mission? Ganiana wasn't even completely Giygan. It was a wonder she was even allowed   
to be at such a high post. Of course, she would never admit this to anyone. Ganiana was her commanding   
officer. To have so little faith in someone at such a high post was practically mutiny.  
She pushed a button on the door to Ganiana's chamber, which served as a high tech doorbell. A   
second later, the door opened and she entered. Ganiana was in a huge chair with her back to the door. A  
computer screen was on the far wall. It showed some alien writing on it that looked human. Jezira had   
nearly forgotten that Ganiana had gotten to such a high position by becoming one of the best linguists  
in all of the empire.  
"What do you have to report?" Ganiana asked with a touch of annoyance.   
"Our expieriment has failed. The statue was eradicated and the force field destroyed." There was  
no change in Ganiana's demenor. This made Jezira nervous. "Before then, the results were promising. The  
device functioned very well."  
"I have another mission for you. We have located the headquarters of Giygas. Assemble a team of   
your choice to investigate the area. We need to figure out who killed him and how they were able to do   
so."  
"Did you hear a word I said?"  
"One more thing: Tell Phalin to assemble a team to find out who destroyed the Mani Mani statue.  
Perhaps the two incidents are related."  
"Yes ma'am." Jezira replied. Ganiana stared at the alien words and translated them aloud.  
"When the chosen boy reaches the point, he will find the light. The passing of time will  
shatter the nightmare rock and reveal the path of light. Do you have any idea what this means?"  
"It-it sounds like some kind of prophesy," Jezira stammered.   
"A little later in this... prophesy, it says that three boys and a girl will defeat the universal  
cosmic destroyer."  
"Giygas?"  
"Precisely. If mere children can defeat our strongest warrior, then planet Earth will be harder  
to conquer than originally anticipated."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Deception

The Forgotten Past Part 6: Deception  
A few hours after her talk with Jezira, Ganiana walked out of   
her commander's quarters. She was discusted, confused and who knows   
what else. Her mission: to disguise herself as a human and go down to   
Earth to gather information. She had just sent Jezira on a mission that   
seemed more important! He had a point when he said she was the best   
person for the job. Compared to anyone in the whole of the empire,   
Ganiana was a genius when it came to the human language.   
She turned into an inconspicuous room. On the right side of the door on   
the other side, there was a panel. After pushing several buttons, the   
entire room filled with smoke. When it cleared, Ganiana looked like a   
human female. When she walked out of the room, she found her commander   
waiting for her. He recoiled in disgust.  
"It's perfect!" He cried.  
"Good. According to the data we have on humans, this form   
should be very attractive. I can use that to gain information." It took   
all of her efforts to keep calm. "I will be departing now. I don't want   
to stay in this form any longer than I have to." After that, she   
quickly and calmly headed to the docking bay.   
***  
Teddy watched as a young girl entered the cafe. She sat at a   
bar stool directly in front of him.   
"I want the hardest thing you've got," the girl ordered. Her   
appearance and accent seemed to indicate that she was Asian. She   
appeared to be in her teens.  
  
"What's a pretty thing like you needing something like that   
for?" Teddy asked jokingly as he slammed a twenty-ounce bottle of   
Mountain Dew down in front of her. He checked the picture Jack had   
given him of Shalo. This girl looked exactly like her.  
"I'm too young for you," the girl, Shalo snapped.  
"Easy, easy. That'll be a dollar." He saw her rummage through   
her pockets until she came up with a five. "Here. Now I'm going to sit   
over there."  
"Wait a second. Here's your change. He handed her four ones,   
which she hastily crumpled into her pocket. No sense of humor, he   
thought. Since it was a slow time of day, he began to clean the counter.   
The door swung open again. This time, it was a woman with long brown   
hair and blue eyes. She wore a cyan business suit that suggested she   
was highly paid.   
"Hello," the woman said alluringly as she sat on the bar stool   
in front of him. She spoke with a heavy accent that Teddy could not   
identify.  
"Hi. What brings a beautiful woman like you to a place like   
this?" She laughed.   
"You don't think someone like me belongs here? I can correct   
that error easily enough."  
"So soon? It usually takes longer than that to chase women away   
from here."  
"I'm not from around here. That's the difference."   
"What's your name, anyway?"  
She hesitated for a moment, as though she wasn't sure what to say.   
"Gina."  
"I'm Teddy. Now that we know each other, what'll it be?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"Well, this is a café. What do you want?"   
She seemed relieved. "I didn't come here for food or drink. I came for   
information."  
"What kind?"  
"I'm new in the area and a few people mentioned Giygas, or  
something like that. What are they talking about?"  
"Were you living in a cave or something?" Her expression   
hardened. "Sorry. Giygas is the universal cosmic destroyer."  
"Why isn't he destroying, then?"  
"He was defeated by four kids who call themselves the Chosen   
Four."  
"Three boys and a girl?"  
"That's right." She began to mutter something under her breath.   
"What?"  
"I was talking out loud? Sorry. Who were these Chosen Four?"  
"Well," he paused. Normally he, like any sub-moron of the time   
could not only recite the names of the Chosen Four, but he would also   
be able to say where they lived, how old they were and what they looked   
like. However, this woman made him extremely tongue-tied. He was having   
difficulty remembering the most basic things. Teddy was glad he'd   
already told her his name. "Let's see here. The girl's name was Paula   
something-or other. One of them was the heir to the throne of some   
eastern country. What was his name again? Tigger? No, that can't be it.   
Poo! That's his name. One of them wore glasses. I think his name was   
Joe. The last one wore a red cap. Nick, maybe? I'm sorry. Normally, I   
know more than this."  
"It's alright. You've been more helpful than you realize."   
"Glad to know I could be of service."   
"Maybe we'll see each other again." She got off the bar stool   
and walked out the door.  
"I wonder..." Teddy stared after her.  
Outside, Gina walked toward another café. She had information to   
collect and only a limited amount of time to do so.  
***  
Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo and Apple Kid walked along the side of the   
highway, oblivious to what was really going on.   
"It never seems to get any closer," the out of shape Apple Kid   
complained. Everyone else agreed, but saying so made it so much worse.   
"Have patience. We'll get there soon enough," Poo replied.   
Conversation died until a pickup pulled over.  
"You guys heading to Ellay?" the man inside asked.   
"Yeah," Ness replied.   
"I'll give you a ride, if you like." Ness looked at the others.   
They nodded. "Sure."  
"Only two of you will fit in front. The rest of you will have to go in   
the back with my golf clubs and some power tools." A few minutes later,   
Paula and Apple Kid sat securely fastened in the front while the other   
three tried to get comfortable amongst the junk in the back.   
Unfortunately, the man was a speed demon. Poo was able to stand it by   
meditating and floating a foot off the ground. The other two had a   
rougher time. It was only made livable by Ness's power shields.   
"Sir, don't you think you should slow down? They don't have seat belts   
back there," Paula suggested calmly in the front.  
"Yeah. I'm getting sick up here." Apple Kid added. His face had an odd   
greenish tinge.  
"Here. Take a bag in case something happens," the driver   
offered.  
"How come you didn't get sick in the Sky Runner?" Paula asked.  
"I don't get airsick. I get carsick. Strange but true."  
"Could you please slow down?" Paula requested.  
The driver turned to face her. "I am driving this vehicle. When you get   
your license..."  
"Watch out!" Paula cried. The driver swerved to avoid a   
lamppost. There was the sound of someone barfing. Apple Kid's bag now   
had something in it. In the back, Ness and Jeff were being thrown   
around like rag dolls. Poo floated serenely, oblivious of all that took   
place.   
"So, why are you five heading to Ellay anyway?"  
We are looking for a girl named Shalo. Have you heard of her?" Apple   
Kid replied before Paula could make something up.  
"You kids are nuts. What's the real reason?"   
"That is the real reason," Apple Kid answered.   
"Sure it is." No one knew what to say to that, so there was silence   
until he stopped at a street corner. "This is my stop. You're sure you   
five are going to be okay?"  
"We're sure," Paula replied. "Thanks for the ride."  
"Speak for yourself," Ness muttered under his breath. He would   
have rather walked.  
"How was it in the back?" Apple Kid asked.  
"Horrible," Ness replied.  
"Painful," Jeff added.  
"I rather enjoyed the experience," Poo answered.   
"He meditated a foot off the ground the whole time," Ness explained.  
"Does anyone know what to do from here?" Jeff asked.  
"Let's find a place to spend the night. Then we can split up and   
search," Ness suggested.  
"Why do we have to find a hotel?" Apple Kid asked.   
"So we have a place to meet up later."  
After they settled in at an Ellay Suite, Jeff handed out town maps and   
they split up the town into five sections. The search had begun.  
***  
Shalo sat in the back of the café, watching the customers come   
in and out. She had long since finished her Mountain Dew, but it was   
not what she had expected. How could people drown their sorrows in   
something that just made you hyper for a couple of hours? She had come   
to this city expecting something to happen and found that nothing was.   
"That stupid dream was supposed to mean something," she muttered. "Why   
isn't anything happening? She screamed inside her mind.   
Another customer entered the café. This time, it was a boy with a red   
cap. [He's kind of cute.] She thought to herself. He talked with the   
bartender {for lack of a better term} and then began to head in her   
direction.  
"Hi," the boy greeted.She was unsure of what to say.   
"Hello."   
"My name is Ness. What's yours?"  
Considering her situation, this question was also difficult to answer.   
What if he was here to bring her back to Dalaam?   
"Okay, if you don't want to tell me. I know who you are already   
anyway."  
"You're from Dalaam."  
"No, but I know someone who is."  
"I mean you came representing Dalaam."  
"I'm a friend of Prince Poo."  
"I'm not going back. You are wasting your time."  
"Why did you come here in the first place?"  
"I don't have to tell you."  
"You're right. I'm just trying to understand what's going on.   
I didn't mean to intrude upon your privacy."  
"Okay. I had a dream that told me I was supposed to come here, so I did.   
It was foolish. Nothing has happened yet."   
"Interesting," Ness muttered, falling silent. She guessed he was   
running out of ideas.   
At that moment, the doors burst open and people, many of them reporters,  
rushed in until there was no more room in the place. They flooded him   
with questions, such as "Why are you here in Ellay?" "How is post-  
Giygas life?" and the ever popular "What is the relationship between   
you and Paula Polestar?"   
"No comment," he replied calmly. "I'm not answering any questions   
today." This only made them ask more questions. Ness sighed. "It   
doesn't matter how many questions you ask. I'm still not going to   
answer."   
"Can't you give the poor kid a break?" Teddy called out. "There will be   
other, better times to ask him questions." The reporters finally gave   
up and slowly filtered out. A couple of kids came up to Ness.  
"Sorry to bother you, but could you sign our hats?" one of them asked.   
They both held red caps that looked identical to Ness's except newer.  
Ness seemed annoyed, but he said, "Sure." The boy that spoke handed him   
a black marker. Ness hastily scribbled his signature onto both hats.   
"Thanks!"  
Both of the boys eagerly put on their hats and ran out of the café.   
"What was that about?" Shalo asked.   
"Let's just say that being the one who defeated the universal cosmic   
destroyer isn't all it's cracked up to be."  
At that moment, Paula walked in. "Ness! We were supposed to   
meet up twenty minutes ago."  
"Paula. I would like you to meet Shalo."  
"You- you're..."  
"The ambassador's daughter," Shalo replied, her voice dripping   
with sarcasm.  
"She says a dream told her to come here."  
"A dream?" The Fobby dream flashed through Paula's mind and she   
shuddered involuntarily. Luckily, no one noticed. "I've had dreams like   
that." She looked at Ness. "They have never failed me. I have a feeling   
yours won't either."  
"What is your dream about, anyway?" Ness asked. She was   
suspicious of their motives. After all, they were trying to bring her   
back to Dalaam. Despite this, something deep within Shalo told her they   
were trustworthy. The two conflicting emotions lead her to a stalemate.  
"Actually, I don't remember the dream, but when I woke up, I   
knew I had to go to Ellay." Paula looked at Ness. After a moment, he   
nodded.  
"Would you like to stay with us until whatever is supposed to   
happen happens? Then we can at least tell your father and sisters you   
are okay." Paula offered. Shalo considered both options. She knew she   
was running out of money and would probably have to return to her   
father anyway. Perhaps the presence of the Chosen Four was needed   
before anything could happen.   
"I accept."  
***  
Jezira and her crew had finally located the place and time where the   
final, fateful battle between the humans and Giygas had taken place.   
They were shocked at what they found.  
"ROBOTS!!" one of the subordinates cried. "The great and mighty   
Giygas was defeated by these primitive robots?"   
"Let me see," Jezira ordered her crew out of the way.   
"It appears as though they were greatly damaged," another   
subordinate reported.  
"I can see that,"Jezira snapped. "We must bring these back to   
the ship for analysis."   
"It's kind of hard to believe that Giygas was defeated by   
robots. I mean I expected to see bodies. I thought it would take an   
army to defeat Giygas, at least. All we found is four robots. How   
strong are these people?" another member of the crew marveled.  
"There's something wrong here." Jezira reasoned. "The human   
said that Giygas was defeated by humans. Ganiana also found evidence   
that suggested the very same thing. Here, we find robots."  
  
"So he lied. What Ganiana found was a lie. This is solid evidence.   
Humans are traitors. That much is understood." Her second in command,   
Jagner stated simply.  
"Jagner. That makes less sense than these robots. The thing Ganiana   
found and what the boy said had nothing to do with each other, yet they   
both gave identical descriptions of the people who defeated Giygas."  
"What were these descriptions?"  
"Three boys and a girl. Neither said more than that."  
"Those descriptions are vague at best."  
"There will be time to investigate this later. Right now, let's   
focus on the task at hand."  
"Of course, commander," Jagner sneered.  
***  
Ganiana walked down the street. She had gotten precise  
information about each of the Chosen Four. She even knew things it   
wasn't necessarily important to know, such as their favorite colors and  
foods.  
She swore out loud in Giygan after several hours of asking questions.   
Although she was sure of who they were and what they looked like, she   
knew little more than that. When she glanced at a street sign, Ganiana   
realized that she was right in front of the café where she had first   
begun asking questions. A lot of reporters were leaving. She heard them   
grumbling about the bartender and Ness. She recognized the name   
immediately, but because she had already gone in, she decided to wait   
outside. Ganiana had no desire to engage in any more conversation. She   
noticed a blond girl who looked like Paula walk in soon after the press   
had cleared away. A few minutes later, she, someone whom she assumed   
was Ness and an Asian girl walked out of the café together. That girl   
must really be Paula. If I follow them, they will lead me to the rest.   
At that moment, the ship contacted her. "Ganiana, we found four   
human-made robots near where Giygas was defeated. There has been   
speculation that it was these and not humans who defeated Giygas."  
"That is ridiculous. I have been gathering data on the subject in the   
city of Ellay. Every human I have asked has told me that three boys and   
a girl defeated Giygas. Humans defeated him and they used Psi to do it.   
Anything else is ridiculous."  
"How do you explain the robots?"  
"I have heard a few things about that and none of them seem plausible.   
However, a scientist named Dr. Andonuts was said to be a big help to   
them. Perhaps you should go question him."  
"He will lie, like all humans do."  
"Use a truth serum if you are so concerned." His stupidity silenced him   
more than her words. "Good-bye." She turned off her communicator. By   
this time, Ness, Paula and the other girl were out of sight. She cursed   
again, this time using the human language. You're overreacting she told   
herself. You'll find them soon enough. She could feel in her bones that   
at least one of them was related to the vile human George. That one   
would pay for what they had done. 


	7. Inevitability

The Forgotten Past Part 7: Inevitability   
Dr. Andonuts was conducting research in his lab in Winters. He was   
just about to complete the blueprint of his latest model of the Phase   
Distorter when he heard someone behind him.  
"Are you the one known as Dr. Andonuts?" the voice was male and had a   
heavy accent.  
"Yes. Who are you?" He turned around to find himself face to face with   
someone who had green skin. He could only see the man's eyes, for his   
nose and mouth were covered with a strange mask. "What do you want?"   
The doctor's voice wavered as he spoke, loosing most of his confidence   
and conviction. The man replied by spraying some sort of liquid into   
the air, which caused Dr. Andonuts to cough and gag.  
"Now answer my questions. Did you help the Chosen Four?" He did not   
mean to answer, but the doctor heard his voice say yes. "How?"  
"I allowed them to use the Sky Runner for transport and built   
the Phase Distorter to allow them to travel back in time."  
"Why were robots found at the remains of the battle site?"  
"The Phase Distorter cannot safely transport living things. I   
stored their souls in robots so they could use my invention. After   
Giygas was defeated, their souls returned to their bodies."   
The man looked at him in disbelief. "How is this possible?"  
"It is really quite simple. All you have to do is map their brain   
schematics..."  
"Stop!" the man sprayed another liquid, which made the doctor cough   
once again. "Tell no one whatyou have seen." With that, the man   
vanished from view. Of course, Dr. Andonuts's first thought was to   
tell his son. He immediately tried to contact them in the   
Sky Runner, but no one answered.   
"Maybe they're at the hotel." He found the number and quickly   
dialed it. "What room is Jeff Andonuts in?" Unfortunately,   
the person who answered was suspicious. He questioned Dr.   
Andonuts at least a half an hour before informing him that it   
was pointless to call at this hour anyway because he had seen Jeff   
and "all his little friends" leave the hotel three hours ago and if   
he wished to talk to Jeff so desperately that he should try back in   
the evening. It took another ten minutes to convince the man to   
allow him to leave a message.   
"That man should have been fired long ago." Of course, rudeness was   
the least of his problems. He hoped that by the time Jeff received   
the message it wasn't too late.   
***  
"We know the Chosen Four are in the human city of Ellay," Ganiana   
informed the commander of the ship. "I propose we organize a   
small-scale attack on a part of the city. I believe the humans will   
strive to protect their own, if nothing else. It would be far easier  
and would take less time than planting spies to search for them in   
the city."  
"It may also prove more costly. We would loose lives and it may all   
be for nothing if none of them are descendants." It was said that the  
commander held such a hatred for humans that he would never refer to   
them directly.  
"You can hold me solely responsible if that is the case. Besides, the   
humans would probably loose lives as well, though it would hardly make   
a dent in their number or ours."   
"Very well, then. Try to keep our casualties to a minimum."  
"Of course." She turned to leave.   
"And also," He added with a malevolent grin.  
"Sir?"  
"Try to keep their casualties to a maximum."   
"I will do my best." She was just about to open the door when it burst   
open and a young subordinate poked his head in.  
"Commander, the human is escaping again!"  
"What?"   
"She was spotted on the fourth floor and appears to be heading to the   
Docking Bay. We've already sealed it off."  
"Good. Whatever you do, don't let her escape alive."  
"Right!" His head exited the room and ran back to where he came from.  
"Ganiana, you'd better oversea the situation to make sure that girl   
does not escape."  
"Right away, sir!" She managed to keep the annoyance out of her voice,   
but wished she could begin work on her real mission immediately.  
By the time she reached the human, the girl had been recaptured and was   
in her cell. Ganiana went in to interrogate the girl and threaten her   
into never escaping again. So far, the technique had not worked, but   
it had always been done by someone who did not know how to threaten   
convincingly.  
"Hello again, Tammy," Ganiana let herself into the cell alone with the girl.  
She carried no weapon, for in this case, she feared it could do more   
harm than good.  
"You're the one who brought me here," the girl stated simply,   
showing no fear. Ganiana began by trying to frighten her.  
"Why do you insist upon making pathetic attempts to escape?   
Don't you realize that no matter what you do, you will fail and end up   
back in your cell, with less freedom than before?"  
"You have got to work on your English. Your accent is awful."  
"Are you even listening to me?"  
"Yes. I'm just not allowing you to scare me." Ganiana was   
dumbfounded. "You people give me the same lecture every time. It  
just doesn't have the affect it used to."  
"I could have you executed for that!"  
"You don't have a weapon."  
"There are other ways."  
"Then do it. Kill me. It's better than staying here."   
There was silence. "You still need me. So you won't. Am I allowed to   
ask questions?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, whenever I ask a question, no one ever bothers to answer   
it."  
Ganiana was not shocked to hear this. Humans were a lower life form and   
were treated accordingly. She decided to answer a couple of them, to   
content her. Perhaps it would even prevent her from escaping.  
"What questions could you possibly have?"  
"Why am I here, for starters."   
"Long ago, there were other humans here. They committed terrible   
crimes. We have decided, instead of killing off the human race, to make   
the descendants pay for their crimes. Since most of our data on the   
human race was destroyed in disgust, we needed a test subject to make   
sure everything goes as planned." Every word was teeming with pent up   
rage. Tammy could tell that she was fighting to keep that rage under   
control.  
"Are you planning to return me to Earth?"  
"That has not been decided." Tammy guessed by her tone that she   
was lying and they were not. After this, she fell silent, planning her   
next escape. Ganiana realized she saw right through it. She wondered   
whether the human was accepting her fate or planning another escape.  
"You know, you can't judge the entire human race on a couple of them."  
"There you are, trying to escape your fate. I know all humans are   
selfish." She seemed quite relieved by this.  
"Well, if you consider selfish wanting to go back to your home   
planet, rather than being killed by revenge hungry aliens, then I am   
beyond selfish."  
Ganiana fell silent. "What's your name, anyway?"  
"Ganiana." Tammy looked her over for a second.  
"That name suits you."  
"Don't attempt to escape again. We will kill you next time."  
"You'll kill me anyway."  
"It will be far more painful." Ganiana exited the room. Tammy   
heard a voice coming from the cell to her left.  
"I told you escaping wouldn't work."  
"I didn't expect it to."  
***  
Ganiana organized the attack in an Earth day's time. It normally   
wouldn't have taken so long except she was unfocused. Never had Ganiana   
been unnerved so completely. She expected the human to behave more like  
Pokey. He fit every human stereotype in existence. Why didn't she? One   
question plagued her mind.Were more humans like Tammy or Pokey? Did   
they really deserve what was coming to them?  
***  
Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, Apple Kid and Shalo arrived back at the  
hotel and recieved Dr. Andonuts's message.   
"I wonder what that's all about," Paula commented.   
"Yeah." Jeff's dad was usually in a good mood, even when things   
looked their grimmest. "I'll call my dad and let you guys know."  
Ness looked at the others. "Who's room should we wait in?"  
"Yours," they answered at once. He was glad it was neat. They   
waited for what seemed like hours before Jeff came with the news. He   
seemed very shaken up over the whole thing, but managed to explain what   
had happened to his father and what that implied.   
"So we need to be on our guard," Ness concluded.  
"I wonder what they want," Jeff muttered. The Fobby dream   
passed through Paula's mind. She wondered if this had anything to do   
with the dream.   
[What can it possibly mean?] She asked herself.  
***  
The next day began normal enough. Aside from everyone being   
extremely paranoid and constantly looking behind their shoulders,   
everything was fine until around noon when they heard the sound of an   
explosion followed by screams of bystanders. They immediately went to   
check it out.   
"What the-" Ness began. Starmen and Mooks of all orders were   
hard at work destroying the city. "We've got to stop them!"   
"No kidding," Jeff agreed. "But I don't think I've ever seen so   
many in one place before."  
"Neither have I," Poo agreed. "We'll have to do this quickly."   
Everyone else agreed.  
Paula, as usual, began the onslaught. "Fire Gamma!" She took   
out a row of Starmen and Lesser Mooks in a single blow. Poo was next,   
using his signature Starstorm Omega attack, which did a lot of damage.   
All that were standing now were Starmen of various upper classes. Jeff   
used the Defense Shower. The enemies attacked next. The attacks   
consisted of Starstorm Alphas, actual weapons and many attempted   
to heal the wounded. All six survived the attack, though just barely.   
Ness was about to use Lifeup Omega when Jeff stopped him.  
"Attack them now! Use Rockin Omega!"  
"Are you nuts? Even I couldn't survive another round of that!"  
"If I'm right, we won't have to."  
"You'd better hope you are. Rockin Omega!" Most of the   
remaining enemies were killed as a result, but a few remained. Apple   
Kid took the opportunity to scarf down a couple of Brain Food Lunches.   
Shalo used Thunder Omega, which hit three out of four times, but still   
left them with a significant number of Starmen remaining.   
"YOU know Psi?" Ness felt a little stupid for not assuming it   
when she said she had strange dreams.  
"Is that what you call it? I've been developing it for awhile."   
The six of them prepared for the next wave of attacks. Suddenly, they   
could here a voice yelling strange syllables at the Starmen. It must   
have meant something, because they all went on their guard.   
A figure materialized in front of them. It was a teal-skinned,   
purple-haired, female looking alien. Her left hand grasped some kind of   
rope which was tied to something behind her, which they could not see.   
She whipped the thing, or rather, the person to the front.   
(In this case, either would be correct.)  
"Pokey!" the Chosen Four cried. The only thing that bound him   
was a single rope around the midsection, yet he seemed to be unable to   
move.   
The six assumed he had been paralyzed through Psi.  
"You know this human, correct?" the alien demanded. The six   
looked at each other for a moment.  
"I guess you could say that," Ness answered.   
"If you want him to live, then answer my questions."   
"Okay, whatever."  
"Which of you are the Chosen Four who defeated Giygas?" Once   
again, everyone looked at each other. They realized this could very   
well be some sort of trap. However, all four of them were in agreement   
that if that was so, they might as well leave Shalo and Apple Kid out   
of it. They simultaneously stepped forward. In response, she snapped   
an order to one of the living Starmen, which they could not understand.   
It stepped forward, holding a small device. It held the device in front  
of each of them in turn. Poo was first. The device made a certain   
quiet sort of noise and the Starman shook what looked like a head.   
The same thing happened for both Jeff and Paula. When it got to Ness,   
the machine made a different and significantly louder noise.   
The alien was positively ecstatic. She could hardly contain herself.   
The Starmen seemed embarrassed. She snapped another order at them. Out   
of nowhere, one of them fired an unfamiliar weapon. A beam shot out and  
hit Ness in the forehead. He fell instantly, lifeless.  
"NESS!" Paula screamed as he hit the ground. The alien picked   
him up like a dropped shopping bag and slung him over her shoulder.   
"What did you DO to him?" Paula cried.   
"You're friend's ancestor did something to us that is   
unforgivable. Now his descendants will pay with their lives." She   
replied. "You should thank us. It was either that or the entire human  
population would have been eradicated." She smiled and added with   
relish, "You should also thank your friend. He's the one who gave us  
the idea." After that, the entire fleet departed, leaving the bound   
Pokey behind. The humans were frozen, unable to comprehend what had  
just taken place. Their leader and close friend was gone. In his place,  
the aliens had left their worst living enemy. 


	8. Escape

The Forgotten Past Part 8: Escape  
Ness awoke in a dark cell. The walls, floor and ceiling were made of   
some gray metal. The only real exit and entrance was a narrow door with   
a small window at the top. There appeared to be no glass. Other than   
the light coming though the window, the room was dimly lit. Ness   
concluded some strange objects on the ceiling were lights. There was a   
panel on the wall, which could serve as a switch. He saw a crudely made   
bed against the right wall. The bottom end was against a wall, which   
was part of a second room. The door was open and what looked like a   
small lavatory was inside. He sat up and noticed two small windows,   
which looked into the cells on either side of him.   
"You're awake," a female voice from the cell to the left   
remarked. He looked in that direction and saw a tiny window. A girl   
was looking in. He walked over to her.   
"Where am I?"   
"On some kind of alien ship. Beyond that, I don't know."   
"Who are you?"  
"Tammy Marlow, fellow Earthling. Who are you?"  
"Ness."  
"You're one of the Chosen Four! What did they bring you here   
for?"  
"I have no idea."  
"Hmmm. I'll bet you're one of the descendants."  
"What?"  
"Descendants. One of them said there were other humans here.   
They committed terrible crimes of some kind. They've decided to make us   
pay by killing off all of the descendants of those humans." Ness   
remembered the diary he'd found and realized that had to be why he was   
here.  
"I guess that has to be why I'm here. Is that why you are   
here?"  
"Sort of. They're just making sure what they are going to do to   
you will work. We're both in the same boat though. They're not planning  
on sending me back to Earth. I have got to say that I already like you   
better than the last person who was here." The last sentence was said   
far more chipper than the rest.  
"Who was that?"  
"Pokey Minch." There was something to be said about the irony   
of this situation, but Ness could not think of a single remark. "You   
know, as annoying as he was, he just might have saved the world," Tammy   
commented.   
"To think he once tried to plunge it into devastation."  
"I never heard about that." Ness began to tell her about how   
Pokey had been Giygas's advocate and all of the trouble he'd helped   
cause.  
***  
Paula, Jeff, Poo, Shalo and Apple Kid stared at Pokey in   
contempt. None of them knew what to do with him. Poo decided at long   
last, to cure him of paralysis. In these circumstances, Pokey was not   
the enemy.   
"Thanks," said a grateful but somewhat confused Pokey. He   
managed to free himself of the rope. "Your kindness will be remembered.   
Perhaps I'll put in a good word for you."  
"Good word?" Apple Kid repeated.  
"Well, yes. After I am recognized as the savior of the human   
race, I will be handsomely rewarded. If you are nice to me until that   
happens, you will be recognized."  
"How dare you!" Paula screamed, outraged. "You send Ness to his   
grave and all you can think about is your selfish ambition!"  
"Some sacrifices have to be made. Besides, are you telling me   
you think you could take on these people? You could barely handle   
Giygas." Paula said nothing to that, but only quaked with anger.   
"Face it. You wouldn't have a chance. I did what had to be done."   
Her eyes watered up with tears as she realized he was speaking the   
truth.  
[This isn't fair,] She moaned silently. [Why did Ness have to?   
Why couldn't Pokey be?]  
"Calm down. I like you better mad."  
"Get out of my face. Now!" She prepared to use a freeze attack.   
Pokey ran toward what remained of Ellay. She watched him go, but did   
not fire. When his form vanished from view, she burst into tears again.   
They all tried to comfort her, but she was inconsolable.   
"Wait a minute! We need to think of what their next move will   
be," Jeff reasoned. "Ness is pretty famous. They're bound to know who   
his family is and where they live."  
"Should we be doing this? I mean, I'm sure Ness's relatives are   
nice people, but these aliens mean buisness. They won't stop until all   
of the descendants are gathered up. Innocent people may get hurt if we   
try to interfere," Apple Kid pointed out.  
"I know, I know," Jeff replied, defeated. "Ness's mom and   
sister should at least know what happened."  
"I'll teleport us there at once," Poo stated. He looked to   
Shalo. "Are you coming?"   
She had to think for a moment, but answered, "Of course."  
***  
Meanwhile, Ness had finished telling Tammy about Pokey.  
"Wow! I didn't think someone could go so low! How does he live   
with himself?"  
"I don't know." At that moment, Ness thought he heard some   
noise coming from the cell on his right. "Is someone in there?" He   
asked and pointed.  
"Yeah. All I know is that he's some kind of businessman who   
sleeps a lot. I've never seen someone so tired. Pokey said he talks in   
his sleep a lot, but I can't hear him over here."   
"Hello!" Ness said as he walked over to the other window and   
peered in that cell. Like his own, it had no real light in it. Suddenly,   
the lights came on and the results made Ness nearly go blind.   
"Who's there?" the man in the cell called out. The voice was   
very familiar to Ness.  
"Umm..." The man walked over to the window and confirmed his   
identity. "Hi... Dad."  
"Ness! What are you doing here?"  
"Same reason you are, I think."  
"I... I didn't want this to happen to anyone else. Is anyone   
else here?"  
"Not that I know of."  
"Good. We need to keep it that way. I'm so sorry this had to   
happen, son." Suddenly, Ness could hear a door opening and then banging   
against a wall.   
"Okay, human. Your time is up."   
"What?"  
"Come with us," a voice distinctly different from the first   
commanded.  
"Be strong!" They had grabbed him were attempting to pull him   
out of the cell. Ness's dad was gripping the window. "I'm sorry I   
wasn't home more often." At last, the two beings overpowered him and   
Ness's dad was dragged out of the room, never to be seen again. Ness   
walked back to Tammy's window.   
"I'm so sorry." There was a brief silence to honor his memory.   
"Well, I doubt this will help, but before you came, I had plans for an   
escape. It requires two people to pull it off, though. Do you want to   
come too?"  
"I can't. They'll just hunt me down again."  
"Good point. I shouldn't have asked."  
"Well, what do you need two people for? I could help you and   
then just sneak back."  
"You would do that? Well, here's the plan..." It took three   
hours to explain every last detail of it.  
***  
Paula, Jeff, Poo, Apple Kid and Shalo arrived at Ness's house.   
They knocked on the door and nervously awaited an answer. After what   
seemed like forever, Ness's mother opened the door.  
"Well, what a surprise. Come in." No one moved.  
"I'm afraid we're the bearers of bad news," Paula said slowly.  
"What kind of bad news? Where's Ness, anyway?"  
Jeff gulped and answered, "That's the bad news. You see there   
was an attack on the city of Ellay. Starmen and Mooks tried to destroy   
the entire city. We stopped them, but it was merely a lure to get us to   
show ourselves." He stopped for a moment. Paula jumped in.  
"They took Ness! They... they're going to kill him and everyone   
else who's related to an ancestor of his."  
"What?" She could hear the sincerity in Paula's voice but was   
having difficulty taking in the entire concept.  
"Your son has been abducted by aliens who intend to kill him   
and they will probably be after you and Tracy as well. They said it was   
either killing every human or just killing the descendants of whoever   
committed the crime," Jeff replied, in an attempt to simplify. This   
caused her to faint. "We should bring her inside and make her feel   
comfortable." Jeff and Poo managed to lift Ness's mother and bring her   
onto the couch in the living room. "Now all we have to do is wait for   
her to wake up."  
***  
Teddy and Jack were assigned to the cleanup crew in the city of   
Ellay. Instead of saying it was an alien attack, their story was said   
it was a massive terrorist bombing. The excuse was thin and some of the  
public didn't buy it.   
"I'm one of them. Whoever thought up that excuse was on   
something," Teddy muttered to Jack.  
"I agree, but it's too late to change that now."  
"There were probably more witnesses than just me. The truth   
will come out eventually."  
"Only in the tabloids and most people don't believe what they   
say anyway."  
"I still don't like it." Teddy remembered the alien woman he'd   
seen. She seemed so familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on   
how.  
"What I don't understand is that these... beings were from the   
time of Giygas. We thought they had all been eradicated. Why did they   
choose now to reveal themselves? And why did they choose Ellay, a city   
they had not attacked previously?"  
"It's hard to say. More importantly, why did they take that kid   
from the Chosen Four? What are they doing, anyway?"  
"Those are very good questions. Perhaps they will never be   
answered."  
"Perhaps we should ask that fat kid," Teddy muttered and   
pointed to Pokey, who was bugging the police officers barricading   
access to the wreckage.  
"Ask him then. I doubt he knows much."  
"Hey, kid, come 'ere."  
"Who, me?" Teddy nodded. "All right!"  
"I know you know something. What happened here today?"  
"What's in it for me?"  
"You'll be rewarded later. Just tell me what happened."  
"Well, um... my vision was fuzzy. You see they had used   
paralysis on me.   
I think it may have clouded my memory." Teddy fished around in his   
pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. "You're too kind." He put   
it in his pocket.  
"Well, the attack was really trying to lure the Chosen Four.   
They scanned each one of them for something. Whatever it was, Ness had   
it. I can't quite remember what." Teddy forked over another twenty. "A   
long time ago, two humans were abducted by these aliens. They committed   
some kind of horrible crime and then escaped. Now they carry a grudge   
against all of humanity."  
"What was the crime?"   
"I don't know." Teddy gave him another twenty. He pocketed it.   
"I'm serious. I don't know." Teddy's face suggested that he'd better   
divulge more information or face grave consequences. "Originally, they   
were planning on destroying every human on Earth. That's what Giygas   
was for. Now they are merely doing away with the humans who are   
descendants of those who committed the crimes."  
"Thank you. You've done me a great service." Teddy's voice was   
dripping with sarcasm, but he gave the boy a five as he walked away.  
"Cheapskate!" Pokey muttered.   
"What did you get?" Jack asked. Teddy relayed the information.   
"This is serious buisness. We've got to find out who all of this Ness   
character's relatives are and monitor every last one of them. This is   
going to be one heck of a cover-up!"  
"All we have to do is monitor the relatives on his father's   
side."  
"How do you know that?"   
"Let's just say I have my ways."  
***  
"That's pretty much it. Do you think it will work?" Tammy asked.  
"If we don't get caught."  
"I feel like I ought to do something for you, since you're   
helping me and all."  
"That's okay. Really."  
"I've got it!" She disappeared for a second and returned with   
a whole stack of paper. "I found this on one of my many escape attempts.  
" Then she fished into her pocket and found a pen. "Here. Use this   
stuff to write letters to your friend and family. You know, any last   
words you'd like to say to them."  
"Okay. Thanks. Hey, wait a minute!"  
"On the news report, it said that the only thing missing from   
your house was a bee-bee gun."  
"Who's going to miss a pen?"  
It took a very long time to write the letters. There were   
twelve letters in all. Each letter took awile and was done with care,   
but there was one, which seemed to take longer than the rest of them   
put together. When Tammy saw the name, she figured it was going to a   
girlfriend.   
Shortly after the letters were finished, the escape plan was   
put into action. Tammy had devised a foolproof method of opening the   
door without triggering any kind of alarm. When she opened Ness's door,   
he realized just how short Tammy was. She only came up to his lower   
chest.   
"I know that I'm short. You don't have to rub it in," she   
muttered in reply to his stare. Let's get going." They continued on in   
silence, going from one unknown corridor to the next.   
"Okay. Here we are," Tammy muttered when they reached a corner.   
Around it was a door. "Now remember, we have to push the switch and   
open the door within milliseconds of each other or else the alarm will   
be triggered too quickly."  
"Got it." Tammy pulled out some sort of contraption and began   
pushing buttons. Ness used telekinesis to push the switch. The door   
opened and an alarm sounded.   
"We've got to hurry!" she cried. They ran into the next room,   
the Docking Bay. There were several small escape pods. Tammy pointed   
out a particular one. "That's some kind of older model. It doesn't scan   
you to see what life form you are when you get in. I nearly got away   
last time with this thing." She pushed a button on the door and it   
swung open. Tammy climbed inside with some difficulty, due to her   
height. "Thank you so much. I'll never forget you!"  
Ness blushed. "Get going before you get caught."   
"All right, all right." She shut the door and Ness backed off.   
Seconds later, the pod went backwards, almost running into the thing   
behind it. This was quickly corrected. A few seconds later, the   
spaceship hatch opened and she was in space. Too late, Giygan troops   
came rushing in.   
"All right! Where is she" Ganiana demanded. Ness replied by   
pointing at the escaping pod. "After it now."  
"Oh, no you don't! Paralysis Omega!" Ness made sure Tammy was   
out of sight before releasing them.  
Ganiana stormed up to him. "You will be given the longest, most   
painful death imaginable!" He said nothing and his calm expression   
remained unchanged. "Can't you at least respond? Why did you do it?"   
"Do you even have to ask? She didn't deserve to die."  



	9. Delivery

  
  
  
  
The Forgotten Past Part 9: Delivery  
After three hours, Ness's mother finally awoke. "It wasn't a  
dream. My family is going to die."   
"I'm sorry," Jeff tried his best to comfort. "I wish we could  
do more for you."  
"I wish there was something more I could do," Julia answered,  
sounding angry now. "They're both so young." She fell into tears.   
Footsteps could be heard on the stairs.   
"What's going on?" Tracy asked. "Mom, what's wrong?" This just  
made her sob even more. "What are you guys doing here? Where's Ness?"  
Jeff opened his mouth to say it, wondering how he was going to  
get through saying it a second time. Julia put a hand up in a stop  
gesture. "I'll tell her. You five should go on home."   
They followed her advice. Within minutes, Poo had teleported   
everyone home. For days, the time seemed to stand still. Their grief  
made the days creep by into monotony. They wondered what cruel fate  
was in store for the descendants. More particularily, what fate was in  
store for Ness.   
***  
Tammy's first stop was at her home. She meant to only stay   
briefly and then deliver Ness's letters in person. However, her mother   
didn't want her venturing off so soon.   
"There are adresses on all of them. You could mail them.  
"Mom, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here right now. I   
could be dead now! He could be dead now! I can't just mail them."  
"I understand that. But I don't think it's safe to go in that  
contraption and it would take too long otherwise. It's out of the   
question. It just can't be done."  
"I can fly it! You're not even giving me a chance!"  
"Sweetheart, I almost lost you once. Can't you see I don't want  
to loose you again?"  
"You didn't loose me last time and you won't loose me this   
time. I can take care of myself and I can fly that thing as good as any  
of those aliens." Tammy stomped off to her room, disgusted. "My mom  
treats me just like everyone else," she muttered as she paced back and  
forth. "Just because I'm short, everyone think's I'm stupid or   
something I'll show her. I'll show them all!"  
That night, she snuck out of the house and into the pod.   
"Let's see here..." She fiddled around with it a long time,  
trying to understand the language everything was in. "This looks   
interesting... a human languages system? Why is that here? Oh, well."  
Instead of running away that night, she spent weeks sneaking   
off and learning the alien language. She knew her mother suspected   
something, but there wasn't much she could do about that. Before this   
had happened, saying their relationship was strained would have been   
a big understatement. Everyone who knew them said they were too alike  
to get along. They also said that Tammy resembled her father more than   
her mother, which would be the reason why her parents were divorced.   
"Honey," her mother said one day. "If you ever need to talk   
about anything, you know I'm right here."  
"Yes, mother."  
"Do you still have those letters?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then go deliver them. You will anyway. I can't stop you.   
You're like your father in that respect." In a low, almost inaudible   
tone,she added, "I could never stop him either."  
This was something Tammy never would have expected. "You mean   
it?"  
"Of course I do." Her mother was one of those people who rarely  
said what she did not mean.  
"Thank you!" They embraced for the first time in a long time.  
"You can come too... if you want."  
"I think this is something you'd better do alone. I know you'll  
be fine." Soon after that, Tammy took off, in search of the town of   
Onett and Ness's immediate family.   
***  
For days, Ness lived without company. He wondered what was   
going on.He'd expected to at least be tortured by now. Boredom seemed   
worse than any torture they could concoct, but he expected them to at   
least attempt to match it in some form of physical pain. After what   
seemed like an eternity, one day, Ganiana entered his cell.  
"Why have you not attempted to escape?"  
"What would be the point? You'd just hurt more innocent   
people to get to me. We both know that. You've left me with no   
real options here."  
"What do you mean?" She was unnerved by his selflessness.  
"Well, I don't see escaping as an option. You have me   
here against my will, yes, but if it's between dying and the whole   
human race dying, then, well, I'd die either way, wouldn't I?" She   
was stunned into silence. Of course, this was all true, but humans   
were supposed to be selfish creatures, only looking out for what   
might benefit them, rather than worry about anyone else. "I   
don't know how else to say it," he said after a long pause. "Is it  
really that hard to understand?"  
"Of course not. Anyone could see the logic in that."  
"How come you look so confused, then?"  
"I'm not confused."  
"Okay, then." Ness assumed aliens used their faces   
differently to convey certain emotions. Perhaps it was truely an  
expression of deep thought.   
[It's just a trick to unnerve me. Perhaps he will attempt  
to kill me and then escape as soon as my back is turned. I won't  
give him the chance.] Even as she thought this, it somehow seemed  
improbable. His words seemed sincere. [George and Maria were that  
way as well. We trusted them and they betrayed us.] At once, she   
had a strong desire to leave before he had the chance to pull   
anything. She absconded at once, without ever turning her back  
on him.  
"These people sure are weird," Ness muttered after she  
was gone.   
***  
Tammy had finally found the town of Onett. It took her a good   
half hour to find Ness's house. The townspeople looked a little freaked  
when they saw her transportation, so she was more than hesitant to ask   
for directions.   
She rang the doorbell nervously. It was Tracy who answered.   
"Hi. I'm Tammy Marlow and..."  
"Whatever you're selling, we don't want it."  
"I'm not selling anything. I have a couple of letters here for   
you and your mom."  
"Letters?"  
"Here you go." Tammy handed them to her.   
There were tears in her eyes when she saw who had written them.   
"This is impossible. You must have foraged them... or something."  
"I'm sorry if you feel that way, but I didn't forage them. How  
would I know what his handwriting looked like?"  
"There are ways," she muttered, her words had no conviction.  
"Thank you anyway."  
"You're welcome. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."  
"Thanks."  
"I'd better be off." She held up the remaining letters. "I've  
got people to meet and places to go."   
Tracy smiled. "That'll keep you busy for awhile."  
"I know. He's been practically everywhere."  
"Well, bye."  
"Yeah. Bye." Tammy went back to the stolen alien escape pod and  
made a couple more stops around Onett before heading to Twoson.   
***  
Paula's day was creeping by at the speed that a snail would   
find annoyingly slow. In addition to her grieving, which was unbearable  
in its own right, the air conditioning wasn't working. It was 88   
degrees outside with a slight warm breeze and so humid you could smell  
the water in the air. Needless to say, being inside was only a slight  
improvement. She was glad it was Saturday. None of the kids were here  
today, so they didn't have to suffer through the heat. Technically, she  
didn't have to either, but she wasn't in the mood to leave the house,   
even if it was sweltering. Around noon, the doorbell rang.   
"Paula! Could you get that?" her mother called.   
"Okay," she replied grumpily and set down her book. "It better  
not be a reporter," she muttered under her breath. Lucky for her, it   
wasn't.  
"Are you Paula Polestar?" asked the girl at the door.  
"Guilty."  
"I have a letter for you."  
"Would't it fit in the box?"   
"I'm not with the post office. My name is Tammy Marlow."  
"Aren't you the missing girl?"  
"Yup. I got abducted by aliens and someone you know helped me  
escape, but decided not to come with. As a feeble attempt to repay him,  
I'm delivering all of his last words through these letters. Here is   
yours." She held it out. Paula had figured out who it was from and   
grabbed it eagerly. "Thank you!"  
"You're welcome. You know, he spent the most time and paper  
on your letter. Were you two..."  
Paula's expression sobered. "No. We probably would have   
been eventually, but..."  
"I'm sorry."  
"It's not your fault. Thanks for the letter." Suddenly, she  
burst into tears. "I-I wish..." Tammy was taken aback by the display  
of emotion and didn't know how to react.   
"Ummm... I know. I wish it was that idiot, Pokey instead. He's  
a loser anyway. Paula was crying too hard to question how she knew   
who Pokey was and continued sobbing. "Let it all out. You'll feel   
better. I know." After another minute of sobbing, Paula finally stopped   
crying.  
"I'm sorry. I..."  
"Don't worry about it.   
"Thanks! I'd better get going."  
"Bye." Paula held out the letter and looked it over. The   
envelope was primitive and made in an oragami fashion, without any   
help from tape.   
"Bye!" Tammy waved as she struggled to climb into the pod.   
"Good-bye! Thanks again!" Tammy nodded to this and then shut  
the hatch. She took off and to deliver the many letters that remained.  
***  
Teddy sat in a vacant cafe, waiting for his partner to arrive.  
Once again, he was cleaning off the counter. At last, the door opened  
and a man sat down on the counter.  
"You're late," Teddy said without looking up.  
"I got held up."  
"What'll it be?"  
"My new usual." Teddy filled a glass with ice water and set it  
down in front of him. "It happened again. That's five incidents now."  
"In the past couple of days? They're good."  
"What I can't understand is why they haven't gone to his  
immediate family yet. I'm sure they've done some research by now."  
"Yeah." Teddy thought of the woman who had questioned him   
about the Chosen Four. [Naw, it can't be.]  
"It's very strange. Even when we get there, it's as though   
nothing has happened. It is, however very unlikely that we will be  
able to cover this up. Word of one of them has already leaked out."  
"It's about time. Have you negotiated with the press?"  
"Yes. It's going to take a lot of money to keep them quiet.  
Things are already appearing in the tabloids."  
"Like you said before: No one believes the tabloids. Calm down  
and focus."  
"You're right. This is no time for panic."   
"Who do you think will be abducted next?"  
"It's hard to say. The disappearances have no pattern that  
we can find."  
"We could just let it all go. I mean, they're cleaning up after  
themselves and weither we like it or not, this will leak out sooner  
or later."  
"You know better than I do we can't do that."  
"I guess you're right."  
***  
"Only two stops left," Tammy muttered as she flew toward   
Winters.   
***  
Jeff was living with his father for the first summer in a long  
time. Normally, he would stay at the school all summer as well, even   
though the classes were optional. This year, he and his father had   
planned to get to know each other better, to make up for ten years of  
lost time.   
At the moment, their only screwdriver that would work on a   
certain screw on the Phase Distorter. This was a problem because they  
were installing a mechanism that would allow living things to travel  
through time safely. Jeff was looking through the extensive wrench   
collection for it when he heard a knock at the door.  
"Hello?" He looked outward and saw nothing. Then he looked   
down.   
"Hi, are you Jeff?" said the short girl at the door. She was  
reading the name off the sheet.   
"Yeah."  
"I'm Tammy Marlow and I'm here to deliver you a letter. Here  
you go."  
He took the letter from her and recognized the handwriting.   
"This is impossible."  
"Not imposible. Just highly unlikely." She reached into her   
coat pocket and pulled two letters out of some secret pocket inside.   
After looking at both of them, she put one back inside. "Is Dr.   
Andonuts here too? This is the address on the envelope."  
"He's here. I'll give it to him."  
"Good. That makes my job easier." She handed him the letter.   
"Well, I'd better get going. It's a long way to Dalaam and my   
vehicle seems to be running out of gas."  
"We have a lot of different types of fuel here. What do you  
need?"  
"I have no idea. It isn't mine." She walked back to the pod.  
Jeff glanced at it once and then turned back to it in awe.   
"You can pilot that thing?"   
"Sure. It was my ticket back to Earth."  
"Back to Earth? You were that missing girl."  
"Yup."  
"Why did they want you? Are you related..."  
"You mean they told you? I had to wait three weeks before they  
told me anything! And no, I'm not related to Ness. I'm just the   
escaped test subject." With that, she climbed inside the pod. Jeff   
stepped back and she took off into the sky. A couple minutes later, she  
came back down again, nearly touching the ground only a few feet from  
where she had taken off. Her cursing could be heard from outside. Jeff   
could also hear her kicking something. This must have had some effect  
because a few seconds later it took off again.   
She landed in Dalaam three hours later, toward sunset. After  
standing at the doorstep knocking for ten minutes, someone finally told  
her that most people just walked in. She asked for Poo and was told he  
wasn't there at the moment.  
"Can you give this to him? It's very important."  
"I will do my best."   
"Thank you." With that, Tammy finally headed for home.  
***   
"You had the Chosen Four in your grasp and you allowed them   
to escape! Why didn't you capture all of them?" the commander demanded  
of Ganiana.  
"Only one of them was related to George..."  
"NEVER speak that name in my presence again. Besides, I don't   
care how many of them were related to... the human. They killed Giygas.  
Have you forgotten that? A crime such as that should result in death!"  
"Commander, ignorance had to be a factor in this situation.   
They didn't the seriousness of what they did. Besides, they had no  
choice!"  
He whirrled around and looked Ganiana directly in the eye.  
"You've grown soft," He accused in almost a whisper. "Humans are   
selfish, lying creatures, Ganiana." There was sorrow in his voice and  
expression in addition to hatred. It was impossible for Ganiana to   
fathom the hate he bore against humanity. "Until you relearn this, you  
are removed from your position abord this ship." She had expected to  
feel hatred, grief or even shame. In their place was a strange calm.  
"I would expect nothing else." She waited as Giegue pushed a   
button near a speaker on the wall.  
"Jagner, come in."  
"What is it, sir?"  
"Come to my quarters immediately and put Ganiana under arrest.  
Then take her to the jail cell."  
"Ganiana? Under what charge?"  
The commander cast his angry stare on her again. "Treason." 


	10. Capture

The Forgotten Past Part 10: Capture   
Ganiana was thrown into a dark prisoner's cell. Shame enveloped   
her and she began to weep silently on the cold floor. Even though she   
knew that in many people's eyes, she felt sympathy for the evil   
incarnate, she felt no regret. Deep down, she knew she had made the   
right descision, even if it was not the popular one.   
"I never thought they'd put you in here." It was the boy.   
"It's your fault," she replied bitterly.   
"How can that be possible?"   
"You didn't act like we percieve you to act. You're supposed to   
be selfish, ruthless, greedy..."   
"I get the picture. We're all supposed to be like Pokey."   
"Pokey... that was the blond, fat boy that started all of this,   
correct?"   
"That's him."   
"How can you be so calm? You are going to die any day now and   
it will be far more painful than the death chosen for me," Ganiana   
blurted out.   
"It's best not to think about it."   
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have any idea what will   
happen. I do. I can't forget it."   
"I've had plenty of time to think about death over the past   
couple of days. You people sure know how to torture a person."   
"What do you mean? We haven't had time for you. You have no   
idea how much worse the torture will be."   
"I'm sure it will be very painful. But being alone for three   
days does strange things to a person."   
"I had never thought of that."   
"If you hate us so much, then why do you know our language?"   
"It's a tactical advantage. That way, we can understand every-   
thing you say, but you only understand what we want you to."   
"You fear us that much?"   
"We don't fear you. We don't fear anything!"   
"Then why do you need to understand our language and better   
your odds?" That stunned her into silence.   
***   
The commander stood with his back to the door of his office   
when Jezira walked in. She had been summoned to his office to discuss   
a new mission. The summon was the first time he had spoken to her   
directly.   
"C-commander?" His regal air made many Giygans nervous, even   
without taking his military success into account.   
"You are a Giygan. Be strong and act like one."   
"Yes, sir! You sent for me, sir?"   
"Yes. While Ganiana was in command, she allowed three of the   
Chosen Four to escape. This error needs to be corrected. If there are   
others with them, capture those humans as well. The less humans in   
this universe, the better."   
"If you believe that, then why did you consent to having only   
those of the original two executed?"   
"Silence! I will not tolerate insubordination!"   
"Yes, sir."   
He ignored her. "Perhaps you are on Ganiana's side! Perhaps   
you think that Giygas's death was justified!" Madness gleamed in his   
eyes and echoed through his words.   
"I would never betray the Giygan empire!" Jezira cried.   
"There was a time when Ganiana would say that," Now he was   
almost whispering. Jezira, shocked at his sudden mood swing, remained   
silent. "My allies are few and far between. No one can be trusted. You   
have your assignment. Now go!"   
"Sir?" Jezira felt she had to ask one final question. "What   
will happen to Ganiana?"   
His fist clenched with anger. "When I have found a suitable   
punishment, the entire crew will know. In fact, they will watch."   
***   
Ness's friends and family were having a memorial service for   
him at the one place that seemed fitting: near the site where the   
meteorite had crashed. There was a little podium where those who knew   
him shared past expieriences.   
At the moment, Paula stood at the podium. She was relating the   
story of how she had met him. Both the audience and she fought back   
tears as the story progressed. Just as she was finishing up, a strange   
object appeared in the sky. A couple people panicked and ran down the   
hill. Most stayed to see what was coming.   
"It's some kind of ship!" someone observed. The wind was   
picking up, so he had to shout to be heard.   
"Do you think they're aliens?" another person wondered in fear.   
"Maybe they're good," suggested a little girl.   
"Giygas wasn't," muttered several people under their breath.   
The ship landed. Everyone held their breath as the aliens appeared.   
***   
Teddy and Jack watched the scene unfold from the hilltop   
overlooking the ceremony. This was even closer to the meteorite than   
the ceremony, ironically enough.   
"I knew it!" Jack muttered.   
"So now we're just going to sit here..." Teddy muttered. "This   
isn't right."   
"We have to do it this way. Otherwise all of humanity will have   
to be sacrificed. Is that what you want?!"   
"No, of course not."   
"Besides, there's no way out."   
"What are you talking about?"   
"Back when all of this began, around the time of Giygas, I   
tried to quit. They made it clear that it was not an option."   
"Who's they?" Teddy asked.   
"Our bosses. They made it clear that quitting this organization   
meant termination." He sighed. "There was a time when I thought I would   
take death over this, but..." He trailed off, sighing again.   
"I didn't realize... Why didn't you tell me any of this   
sooner?"   
Jack ignored the question. "All we can do is keep the masses   
from panicking. The only way to do that is to make sure no one knows   
the truth about the disappearances." Teddy stared at him, both   
dumbfounded and reticent. He focused his attention back onto the scene   
just in time to see the first alien emerge from the spacecraft.   
***   
Jezira walked out with an air of confidence. Shortly afterward,   
two Starmen Deluxe followed. She snapped the order to capture. One used   
Paralysis Omega. The other began to round up the helpless victims.   
"Poo," Jeff managed to say. "Can't you heal them, or   
something?"   
Poo, who had already healed himself, replied, "I cannot heal   
everyone at once. You know that. Healing Beta!" Immediately, the   
numbness left Jeff's body. They looked to Paula, who appeared to be   
praying. A heavy wind picked up and blew the Starmen back, though the   
damage it took away was trivial. Poo healed her as well and she ran   
up to join them.   
"What are you doing here?" Paula demanded. Her face was   
streaked with tears, but her voice remained strong. Unlike Ganiana,   
Jezira did not feel any desire to explain why she was there. Instead,   
she barked the order to the Starmen to kill them.   
The first used Starstorm Omega, which inflicted heavy damage   
on all three of them. Too late, Paula countered with Shield Omega.   
"What should we do? We're completely unarmed," Jeff wondered.   
He was having trouble standing because of the Starstorm attack.   
"We'll do our best to defend ourselves," Paula replied. Jeff   
nodded and attacked the first Starman. It did little damage. Poo healed   
Paula first because she needed it the most. The second Starman attacked   
with Starstorm Omega as well. Thanks to the shield, this time   
the enemy felt the effects.   
"Paula, the last time we fought one of these Starmen, it was   
using a shield," Poo reminded her.   
Paula nodded in understanding. "Thunder Beta!" Lightning   
flashed downward toward the first one, only to be reflected. Paula   
staggered as it hit. When the second flash reflected back to her, Paula   
smiled. Althogh it hurt, both of thier shields had been destroyed.   
Jeff took a defensive stance. "Okay, Poo. Show them how   
Starstorm ought to be done." Poo nodded and used the technique. It did   
major damage. Both of them were nearly destroyed. As a last-ditch-   
effort, one of them shot a beam at Jeff, who was so weak that he   
collapsed. Too late, Poo tried to heal him. Needless to say, it had   
no effect. The other Starman shot one at Poo, who collapsed as well.   
Paula collapsed in prayer. A golden aura radiated from her   
body. A moment later, rainbow light came down from the sky. Both Poo   
and Jeff stood up, completely reenergized.   
Jezira remained completely calm. She brought out a device,   
which Jeff recognized.   
"It looks like some kind of neutralizer." Unfortunately,   
knowing what it was did not help. Thier shields were disspelled with   
ease. Not knowing what else to do, Jeff attacked one of the Starmen   
unarmed again. It began to show signs that it could not take much more.   
Poo instantly followed up with Starstorm Omega. Both Starmen were   
destroyed. The three celebrated.   
"So, you think you've won?" Jezira laughed. She whispered   
something inaudible in a dark tone. A brilliant flash of light   
followed, rendering Paula, Jeff and Poo diamondized.   
***   
Tammy Marlow was late coming to the service. She was running   
up the hills while the struggle took place. When she had almost gotten   
there, Shalo teleported right in front of her.   
"Wow! How did you...do that?"   
"It's called Psi," Shalo replied, sounding a little annoyed.   
After a few moments of silence, she added, "We'd better get going.   
We're late already," in a kinder tone.   
"Yeah." They ran up the hills, but when they got there, the   
last of the guests were being hauled into the spaceship.   
"What the-" Tammy cried.   
"Hello, Tammy Marlow. I didn't think I would ever see your face   
again."   
"You're a Giygan!"   
"It took you that long? I'm surprised you were able to   
penetrate our defenses. However, this time, you will not escape." She   
muttered the same phrase as before, but the attack was absorbed by a   
shield.   
"Psi...I'm not surprised." To herself, [Liar. She didn't   
consciously use it, so how can the shield be so powerful? It's unheard   
of.] She took out her gun and adjusted the settings.   
She fired two accurate shots within miliseconds of each other.   
Jezira looked at the other one. [Or maybe it was this other girl. She   
seems to have plenty of control over her powers.] Two of her   
subordinates approached her.   
"Ma'am, we have captured all of the humans in the area."   
"Even the ones on the hill above us?"   
"Right here." She looked downward and saw two unconscious men   
with them.   
"Take these two children as well. Let's move out!" Within   
moments, the ship took off. Jezira stared at the three diamondized   
children. "These are the ones who defeated Giygas?" She cocked her   
head to the side and said, "They are quite famous among their fellow   
humans. We already have their leader..." She smiled as her plan began   
to take shape.   
***   
Ness and Ganiana watched through their doors and heard the bang   
of cell doors as stunned humans were hastily thrown into them. Jezira   
walked over to Ganiana's cell.   
"Your execution date has not been set yet," She gloated. This   
was a bad sign for Ganiana. She couldn't stop herself from cringing.   
"I'll bet you'd do almost anything to get out of this situation."   
"Do you really have to be here?" Ganiana groaned.   
"I think I have a way to get you out of this."   
"What are you talking about?"   
"The accusations against you are false, correct?" Jezira didn't   
wait for her to answer. "I know a way for you to get out of this." Then   
she walked away, leaving Ganiana mystified. She walked over to the   
window to hear Ness's comments, but he was looking through the other   
window.   
"Who the..." The figure inside was diamondized, making   
identification difficult, especially in the dim light. "Healing Gamma!"   
"Where am I?" the figure groaned.   
"Jeff?" Ness exclaimed. "Is that you?" It took him a long time   
to answer.   
"Ness! You're alive?"   
"For now. What's going on? What are you doing here?"   
"Uhh, well... We had all gathered together... in your memory...   
and they attacked. Then they brought us here."   
"Jeff, who is 'we'?"   
"Well, uh, basically everyone you know."   
"WHAT!"


	11. Descision

The Forgotten Past Part 10: Capture   
Ganiana was thrown into a dark prisoner's cell. Shame enveloped   
her and she began to weep silently on the cold floor. Even though she   
knew that in many people's eyes, she felt sympathy for the evil   
incarnate, she felt no regret. Deep down, she knew she had made the   
right descision, even if it was not the popular one.   
"I never thought they'd put you in here." It was the boy.   
"It's your fault," she replied bitterly.   
"How can that be possible?"   
"You didn't act like we percieve you to act. You're supposed to   
be selfish, ruthless, greedy..."   
"I get the picture. We're all supposed to be like Pokey."   
"Pokey... that was the blond, fat boy that started all of this,   
correct?"   
"That's him."   
"How can you be so calm? You are going to die any day now and   
it will be far more painful than the death chosen for me," Ganiana   
blurted out.   
"It's best not to think about it."   
"That's easy for you to say. You don't have any idea what will   
happen. I do. I can't forget it."   
"I've had plenty of time to think about death over the past   
couple of days. You people sure know how to torture a person."   
"What do you mean? We haven't had time for you. You have no   
idea how much worse the torture will be."   
"I'm sure it will be very painful. But being alone for three   
days does strange things to a person."   
"I had never thought of that."   
"If you hate us so much, then why do you know our language?"   
"It's a tactical advantage. That way, we can understand every-   
thing you say, but you only understand what we want you to."   
"You fear us that much?"   
"We don't fear you. We don't fear anything!"   
"Then why do you need to understand our language and better   
your odds?" That stunned her into silence.   
***   
The commander stood with his back to the door of his office   
when Jezira walked in. She had been summoned to his office to discuss   
a new mission. The summon was the first time he had spoken to her   
directly.   
"C-commander?" His regal air made many Giygans nervous, even   
without taking his military success into account.   
"You are a Giygan. Be strong and act like one."   
"Yes, sir! You sent for me, sir?"   
"Yes. While Ganiana was in command, she allowed three of the   
Chosen Four to escape. This error needs to be corrected. If there are   
others with them, capture those humans as well. The less humans in   
this universe, the better."   
"If you believe that, then why did you consent to having only   
those of the original two executed?"   
"Silence! I will not tolerate insubordination!"   
"Yes, sir."   
He ignored her. "Perhaps you are on Ganiana's side! Perhaps   
you think that Giygas's death was justified!" Madness gleamed in his   
eyes and echoed through his words.   
"I would never betray the Giygan empire!" Jezira cried.   
"There was a time when Ganiana would say that," Now he was   
almost whispering. Jezira, shocked at his sudden mood swing, remained   
silent. "My allies are few and far between. No one can be trusted. You   
have your assignment. Now go!"   
"Sir?" Jezira felt she had to ask one final question. "What   
will happen to Ganiana?"   
His fist clenched with anger. "When I have found a suitable   
punishment, the entire crew will know. In fact, they will watch."   
***   
Ness's friends and family were having a memorial service for   
him at the one place that seemed fitting: near the site where the   
meteorite had crashed. There was a little podium where those who knew   
him shared past expieriences.   
At the moment, Paula stood at the podium. She was relating the   
story of how she had met him. Both the audience and she fought back   
tears as the story progressed. Just as she was finishing up, a strange   
object appeared in the sky. A couple people panicked and ran down the   
hill. Most stayed to see what was coming.   
"It's some kind of ship!" someone observed. The wind was   
picking up, so he had to shout to be heard.   
"Do you think they're aliens?" another person wondered in fear.   
"Maybe they're good," suggested a little girl.   
"Giygas wasn't," muttered several people under their breath.   
The ship landed. Everyone held their breath as the aliens appeared.   
***   
Teddy and Jack watched the scene unfold from the hilltop   
overlooking the ceremony. This was even closer to the meteorite than   
the ceremony, ironically enough.   
"I knew it!" Jack muttered.   
"So now we're just going to sit here..." Teddy muttered. "This   
isn't right."   
"We have to do it this way. Otherwise all of humanity will have   
to be sacrificed. Is that what you want?!"   
"No, of course not."   
"Besides, there's no way out."   
"What are you talking about?"   
"Back when all of this began, around the time of Giygas, I   
tried to quit. They made it clear that it was not an option."   
"Who's they?" Teddy asked.   
"Our bosses. They made it clear that quitting this organization   
meant termination." He sighed. "There was a time when I thought I would   
take death over this, but..." He trailed off, sighing again.   
"I didn't realize... Why didn't you tell me any of this   
sooner?"   
Jack ignored the question. "All we can do is keep the masses   
from panicking. The only way to do that is to make sure no one knows   
the truth about the disappearances." Teddy stared at him, both   
dumbfounded and reticent. He focused his attention back onto the scene   
just in time to see the first alien emerge from the spacecraft.   
***   
Jezira walked out with an air of confidence. Shortly afterward,   
two Starmen Deluxe followed. She snapped the order to capture. One used   
Paralysis Omega. The other began to round up the helpless victims.   
"Poo," Jeff managed to say. "Can't you heal them, or   
something?"   
Poo, who had already healed himself, replied, "I cannot heal   
everyone at once. You know that. Healing Beta!" Immediately, the   
numbness left Jeff's body. They looked to Paula, who appeared to be   
praying. A heavy wind picked up and blew the Starmen back, though the   
damage it took away was trivial. Poo healed her as well and she ran   
up to join them.   
"What are you doing here?" Paula demanded. Her face was   
streaked with tears, but her voice remained strong. Unlike Ganiana,   
Jezira did not feel any desire to explain why she was there. Instead,   
she barked the order to the Starmen to kill them.   
The first used Starstorm Omega, which inflicted heavy damage   
on all three of them. Too late, Paula countered with Shield Omega.   
"What should we do? We're completely unarmed," Jeff wondered.   
He was having trouble standing because of the Starstorm attack.   
"We'll do our best to defend ourselves," Paula replied. Jeff   
nodded and attacked the first Starman. It did little damage. Poo healed   
Paula first because she needed it the most. The second Starman attacked   
with Starstorm Omega as well. Thanks to the shield, this time   
the enemy felt the effects.   
"Paula, the last time we fought one of these Starmen, it was   
using a shield," Poo reminded her.   
Paula nodded in understanding. "Thunder Beta!" Lightning   
flashed downward toward the first one, only to be reflected. Paula   
staggered as it hit. When the second flash reflected back to her, Paula   
smiled. Althogh it hurt, both of thier shields had been destroyed.   
Jeff took a defensive stance. "Okay, Poo. Show them how   
Starstorm ought to be done." Poo nodded and used the technique. It did   
major damage. Both of them were nearly destroyed. As a last-ditch-   
effort, one of them shot a beam at Jeff, who was so weak that he   
collapsed. Too late, Poo tried to heal him. Needless to say, it had   
no effect. The other Starman shot one at Poo, who collapsed as well.   
Paula collapsed in prayer. A golden aura radiated from her   
body. A moment later, rainbow light came down from the sky. Both Poo   
and Jeff stood up, completely reenergized.   
Jezira remained completely calm. She brought out a device,   
which Jeff recognized.   
"It looks like some kind of neutralizer." Unfortunately,   
knowing what it was did not help. Thier shields were disspelled with   
ease. Not knowing what else to do, Jeff attacked one of the Starmen   
unarmed again. It began to show signs that it could not take much more.   
Poo instantly followed up with Starstorm Omega. Both Starmen were   
destroyed. The three celebrated.   
"So, you think you've won?" Jezira laughed. She whispered   
something inaudible in a dark tone. A brilliant flash of light   
followed, rendering Paula, Jeff and Poo diamondized.   
***   
Tammy Marlow was late coming to the service. She was running   
up the hills while the struggle took place. When she had almost gotten   
there, Shalo teleported right in front of her.   
"Wow! How did you...do that?"   
"It's called Psi," Shalo replied, sounding a little annoyed.   
After a few moments of silence, she added, "We'd better get going.   
We're late already," in a kinder tone.   
"Yeah." They ran up the hills, but when they got there, the   
last of the guests were being hauled into the spaceship.   
"What the-" Tammy cried.   
"Hello, Tammy Marlow. I didn't think I would ever see your face   
again."   
"You're a Giygan!"   
"It took you that long? I'm surprised you were able to   
penetrate our defenses. However, this time, you will not escape." She   
muttered the same phrase as before, but the attack was absorbed by a   
shield.   
"Psi...I'm not surprised." To herself, [Liar. She didn't   
consciously use it, so how can the shield be so powerful? It's unheard   
of.] She took out her gun and adjusted the settings.   
She fired two accurate shots within miliseconds of each other.   
Jezira looked at the other one. [Or maybe it was this other girl. She   
seems to have plenty of control over her powers.] Two of her   
subordinates approached her.   
"Ma'am, we have captured all of the humans in the area."   
"Even the ones on the hill above us?"   
"Right here." She looked downward and saw two unconscious men   
with them.   
"Take these two children as well. Let's move out!" Within   
moments, the ship took off. Jezira stared at the three diamondized   
children. "These are the ones who defeated Giygas?" She cocked her   
head to the side and said, "They are quite famous among their fellow   
humans. We already have their leader..." She smiled as her plan began   
to take shape.   
***   
Ness and Ganiana watched through their doors and heard the bang   
of cell doors as stunned humans were hastily thrown into them. Jezira   
walked over to Ganiana's cell.   
"Your execution date has not been set yet," She gloated. This   
was a bad sign for Ganiana. She couldn't stop herself from cringing.   
"I'll bet you'd do almost anything to get out of this situation."   
"Do you really have to be here?" Ganiana groaned.   
"I think I have a way to get you out of this."   
"What are you talking about?"   
"The accusations against you are false, correct?" Jezira didn't   
wait for her to answer. "I know a way for you to get out of this." Then   
she walked away, leaving Ganiana mystified. She walked over to the   
window to hear Ness's comments, but he was looking through the other   
window.   
"Who the..." The figure inside was diamondized, making   
identification difficult, especially in the dim light. "Healing Gamma!"   
"Where am I?" the figure groaned.   
"Jeff?" Ness exclaimed. "Is that you?" It took him a long time   
to answer.   
"Ness! You're alive?"   
"For now. What's going on? What are you doing here?"   
"Uhh, well... We had all gathered together... in your memory...   
and they attacked. Then they brought us here."   
"Jeff, who is 'we'?"   
"Well, uh, basically everyone you know."   
"WHAT!"


	12. Memory

The Forgotten Past Part 12: Memory  
  
Jeff looked to Paula and exchanged looks. They were both   
worried about Ness. He'd expressed some sort of disorientation.   
"Something about him just feels different," Paula muttered to  
Jeff. The dream about the Fobbies entered her thoughts with startling   
suddenness. She guessed at what it really meant. "Ness. Try to use   
Psi." He looked at her and the two of them locked eyes for a long moment.  
"I can't," he said at last. "They said it was a necessary   
precaution for something that happens in hours. I don't know any   
more about it."  
"Is it permenant?"  
"I doubt it." The tone in his voice was dark and almost seemed  
to suggest otherwise. There was a long silence. They heard the door  
in the cell next to Ness's open. The sound of someone being thrown in   
was heard and then it slammed shut again. Glad for the distraction, Ness  
walked over to the window on that side and peered in. Ganiana stood up,   
rubbing her right upper arm. She whispered something under her breath,  
but it was in Giygan, so Ness didn't catch it. She spoke again, louder  
this time, and obviously angry and still in Giygan. No human could make  
such a sound. Eventually, she rose and began to pace, still clutching   
her injured arm. It sounded as though she was arguing with herself. He   
wondered what she was saying.  
"Ness!" Jeff called. "Who's in there?" Ness walked over to that  
window.   
"A Giygan. I don't know any more than that."  
"Giygan! What's she doing in there?"  
"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with treason."  
"Interesting..."   
The next six hours were spent in an eerie timeless state. No one  
could begin to guess how long they were actually supposed to wait   
because Giygan time was probably far different from Earth time. The   
only things they could do were talk and wait. Talking was difficult   
because most of them were paralyzed. Many were stuck in terrible   
positions, such as having one leg in the air. Those who were in such a   
position was grateful to be numb.  
Somehow, the six hour time limit spread around, so another   
item was what would happen at that time. Everyone had thier own theory.   
The most popular (and sadistic) was that first, they would witness   
Earth's destruction and then they would be tortured until everyone met   
their own demise.   
At last, the hour of destiny arrived. Everyone was taken out of  
their cells, and for the most part, carried to a large room. Ness was  
dragged to the center. One of the four guards surrouning him said   
something which sounded like Ratheyra Oriphec. It was obviously some   
sort of paralysis because afterwards, Ness could not move.   
Meanwhile, the humans were healed from paralysis, got in a more  
comfortable position and then were paralyzed again. Poo was   
un-diamondized, then paralyzed.There would not be any distractions.   
After that, the guards left. Only the mysterious dark figure was left   
in the room with them.  
"Ganiana, come forward," the figure ordered. Fron the shadows   
in the back of the room, Ganiana walked slowly toward the center of the   
room. She carried a simple gun, one which did not give as much pain as  
the average Giygan would have wanted, but no gun could in this situation.  
As she walked, the commander gave a speech to the humans in their own   
tounge.  
"Today, you will witness the death of your hero. Finally, you   
will know the pain which I and the whole of the Giygan race have   
endured, thanks to your barbaric acts. At last, your people will know my   
pain and the pain of all Giygans!" As he said the word step, Ganiana   
stopped walking. She was almost at point blank range, sort of diagnally   
in front of him. One glance she allowed herself at the human crowd. To  
them, it seemed like an evil glare, but it was really one of deep thought.   
She felt her arm raise. At last, she was ready to fire.   
[Do it! If you don't, you'll be tortured and killed! If you do, it  
will be like before you met the humans,] part of her mind screamed.   
[No, it won't. You'll never forgive yourself and you will never be  
truely loyal to the Empire.] the other part whispered. The gun was lowered.  
"Ganiana..." the commander muttered. She looked at him for a   
moment.  
"I have to do this." Ganiana raised the gun again. This time,   
herhand was shaking like crazy. Part of Ganiana was still screaming at   
her not to, but it was too late. She squeezed the trigger.  
"Ness!" Paula screamed in despair. Everything seemed to be   
going inslow motion. Memories of the past flooded her mind. Her most   
treasured memories now became nothing but pain. Most painful of all   
were the words she'd never had the courage to say.   
Through some twist of fate, the ray fired from the gun was   
absorbed by a Psi shield. Everyone looked around for the person who had   
activated it. Paula felt her heart leap at the ray of hope.   
[Darn it! Just when I'd made my decision! Who is trying to   
torture me?!] Ganiana screamed inside her mind. She fired at him again   
and again, hoping to wake up from the nightmare.  
"Ganiana. Adjust the settings and fire again," The commander   
ordered in plain English. She looked at him for a long moment, then   
nodded slowly. Without adjusting her gaze, she changed the settings on   
her gun. She raised the gun to her own head, then slowly, almost   
reluctantly aimed it back at Ness.  
Ness wished he twist his head around to look at his friends and   
family once more. Instead, he was forced to stare at the commander's cold,  
steady gaze. The alien seemed to be bursting with joy at the thought of his  
demise, almost to the point of madness.   
Paula wanted to look away. However, like a moth to the flame,  
her eyes remained fixated to scene. Suddenly, a melody popped into her  
mind. It was a song she could never remember hearing aloud, but rather   
one from a dream. Her deepest insticts told Paula to sing it, so she   
took a deep breath and began. There were no words; she just sang the   
notes using "la". Her voice was very soft at first, but it was just   
loud enough for everyone to hear.  
The commander clasped his ears firmly. "STOP IT!" His voice   
boomed, echoing three times. A confused Ganiana fired the gun, but it   
missed Ness's head and hit his gut instead. Paula sang louder. Her aura   
glowed yellow, as though she was praying.   
"STOP IT! STOPITSTOPITSTOPIT!" The commander screamed even   
louder than before. He clasped his head as though it was in great pain.   
Paula finished the song, but started over again. This time, the entire   
audience gasped as a second voice began to sing along with her.   
Ganiana looked on in wonder as the apparition of a woman   
appeared. She floated directly above Paula. After the song had   
finished its second round, an awkward silence filled the room.  
"What kind of power do these humans possess?" She muttered. The   
gun felt heavy in her hands. She rose it halfway toward her head once   
more, but the weight of it forced her to drop it and stare at what   
unfolded.  
"Giegue," the apparition whispered. Her voice had an odd   
musical quality to it. Pain and hatred filled the commander's eyes at   
the sound of her voice.   
"Maria," he whispered back. His voice did not match his face at all.  
It sounded almost childish.  
Ness wished he could move. He wondered what was going on. He   
focused on the one thing he could see: the commander named Giegue.   
Visions of a strange world filled his mind. He realized they were   
Giegue's thoughts. Or rather, flashbacks.  
[How is this possible?] he wondered [I can't use my Psi.]  
***  
A young Giegue ran onto the bridge of a Giygan spaceship.   
"Giegue! Get back here!" called his nurse from the elevator.   
The captain of the ship laughed at the elderly nurse. "In this   
case, Maira, I don't think anyone will care about you setting foot on   
the bridge." As he said this, the captain scooped up Giegue in his arms,   
so he wouldn't run off again. Maira blushed deeply as she walked rather  
stiffly onto the bridge. She took the mischevious boy from the captain.  
"Thank you so much!" She then whispered into the captain's ear,   
"I just wish his real parents had more time for him. Then maybe he wouldn't   
act this way."  
"I want to see the aliens!" Giegue pouted.  
"Oh, no you don't! We want to give our guests a good impression   
of us, don't we?"  
Giegue remained cross. "I want to see the aliens!" he repeated   
stubbornly.  
As if on cue, the large round teleportation device in the   
center of the room began to activate. Within a couple of seconds, the   
ones from Earth and two guards appeared. The two guards did not make an   
attempt to restrain the humans in any way. They seemed relaxed. One of   
them was even talking calmly with the male one.  
Giegue, eager to meet them, squirmed out of his nurse's grasp.   
"Come back!" She cried. As usual, it made no difference. He ran   
right up to the female human. She smiled at him. Although he was not   
sure what she was doing, he knew it was a friendly gesture.  
"Hello there, young one. My name is Maria."  
"Ma'am, he does not speak your language," one of the guards   
informed her.  
She did not acknowledge his statement. Instead she pointed to   
herself and said "Maria," a touch slower than usual.  
Giegue understood. He pointed to himself and said his own name.  
She smiled again. The nurse came up and grabbed Giegue again. She did  
not know much of the human's language either, but said thank you anyway.   
One of the guards translated it for her.  
"Tell her not to worry about it. I like children." The male   
human nodded in complete agreement before he returned to his conversation   
with the other guard.   
As the nurse dragged him back to where he was supposed to be,   
Giegue smiled as though he knew a great secret.   
***  
The flashback cut off abruptly there. Ness looked at Giegue and   
realized how much the warrior must have changed over time. He tried to   
get into a more comfortable position, but this only reminded him of the   
paralysis and his wounds. His life was fading away at a far slower pace   
than he would have liked.  
He wondered morbidly if Giegue was deliberately slowing everything down.   
Ness forced his head to look in the direction of the woman's   
voice he had heard. The sight of the transparent woman shocked and   
frightened him. What had Paula done? He wondered if she would be   
all right after attempting something like this. Staring at the woman,   
Ness couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she were stretching his life   
span a couple of minutes. He had little time to ponder this because the   
apparition spoke again.  
"Giegue, I..." Another vision flashed before Ness's eyes.  
***  
First, there was nothing but white. Slowly, a room came into   
focus. Everything within it was stark and white, but the room had a   
comfortable atmosphere. The two humans from the previous flashback were  
there, as well as Giegue. He seemed to know enough of the human language  
to carry on a moderately intelligent conversation with them.  
"Giegue," Maria sounded serious. "Do you have any friends?"  
"Friends?" The word was foreign to him.  
"George?" Maria looked to her husband.  
"Well, ah, a friend is someone who is very close to you, who you  
can talk to and... tell secrets and... They kinda feel like a relative,  
even..."  
"Relative?" this word was not familiar to him either.  
"Family member," Maria clarified.   
A look of comprehension crossed his features. "Oh. I know what   
that is."  
"Do you..." George began.  
"You are my friends."  
"Do you have any other friends?" George asked.  
"There was Maira, but..." He trailed off and looked down. Maria   
looked at George and they exchanged a look of sympathy for the boy. "What  
do you want to do now?" he asked excitedly.  
***  
Jeff looked on, frozen in place. He too wondred what was truely   
going on. [Is it Giegue who is showing us this? Or is it that woman? Or  
someone else?] He wanted to ask, or at least mutter to himself. At the   
moment, his movement was so restricted that even his facial expression did  
not change easily. He managed to force his eyes to look at the apparition.  
"Giegue..." the woman spoke again. "I'm so sorry..."  
"Sorry!" He cried in angry disbelief. It looked as though he wanted  
to say more, but could not. Time stood still as the third flashback began.  
***  
This one began in complete darkness. Slowly, details faded in.  
Giegue bounded through the corridors of the ship, oblivious to all which   
occured around him.  
At last, he stopped before an inconspicuous door, quickly opened it  
and dashed inside. Maria and George were talking in quiet, serious tones to  
one another. When they heard the door shut, this ceased immediately and they  
turned toward the door to greet their visitor.  
"Hello, Giegue," Maria said. Her tone was a little less cheerful   
than usual and almost sounded forced.   
"Hi!" Giegue replied, deciding to ignore the change in her manner.  
"How are you doing?" George asked in an odd tone.  
Giegue was not sure how to reply with both of them behaving so   
strangely, but decided to use the normal "Good!"   
"That's great." Her reply seemed rushed in both timing and delivery.  
She looked at George expectantly.   
He cleared his throat and asked, "Giegue, do you know if they are   
planning on returning Maria and I back to Earth?"  
He looked at them both with an expression of deep hurt. "Don't you  
like it here?"  
"It's not that!" Maria replied instantly. "It's just that, well,   
Earth is our home and we miss being there. All we were wondering is if you   
know if they are planning on returning us there, even just for a visit."  
This did little to console the young boy, but he shook his head   
negatively and replied, "They wouldn't tell me anything like that."  
The two of them looked at one another and exchanged a series of   
looks, rather like a private conversation.  
At last, Maria spoke. "Thank you. Now, what do you want to do   
today?" Giegue's expression plainly stated that he felt this was rather   
trivial. An eternity of silence followed her comment. "Don't you have a home  
you miss, Giegue?" There was still a silence, but his answer was obvious.  
"This is... the only place..." Maria trailed off, completely stunned.  
"My only real home is this ship." He said at last. "... With you."  
No one had anything to say about that. The silence lasted so long that it   
seemed that time had stopped.   
"I'm... so sorry. I wish... we had never..." Maria was the first to  
speak.  
"If there is anything we can do to make it up to you..." George   
added lamely. Giegue did not respond for a moment.  
"I'll think about it," he said sullenly, but he seemed less   
distressed than before.   
***  
Poo stared at Paula. He too wondered how they were seeing these   
things and what was the purpose was. However, he was more worried about   
Paula. He understood how much energy it must have taken to summon and the  
woman and maintain the apparition.   
"What is going on?" he muttered as the fourth flashback began.  
***  
"Maria, will you tell me a story?" Giegue asked. The view was   
immediately in focus. Although there was no way to know, everyone witnessing  
it understood that it was nighttime or close to it.  
"I-I don't know many stories."  
"You know some. Tell me an Earth story. You never have."  
"Alright. I'll tell you about Queen... Queen Mary."  
"Okay." However, neither Giegue nor the audience heard much of the   
tale because he fell asleep after a couple of sentences. The vision faded to  
blackness but did not stop. Suddenly, Giegue's eyes opened again. It seemed  
as though it was very late, but once again, there was no real way to tell.  
He looked around and saw George and Maria still awake and talking   
in the opposite corner. He did not wish to interrupt them for the time being,  
so he pretended to be sleeping.  
"I told you we shouldn't have asked him," George muttered to Maria.  
"I knew it was pointless." After a moment, he added, "However, we did get   
our answer."  
"What are you talking about? He didn't know."  
"Giegue will one day rule their entire empire. They wouldn't risk   
his future rath by taking his only friends away." He paused, allowing the   
facts to sink in. "Face it Maria. At this rate, we will never go home unless   
we escape. And if we are going to, we'd better do it while while we're   
still close enough to Earth to find our way back!"   
"You haven't even asked anyone with any real authority on this ship.  
How would they know we want to go home at all? We're the aliens to them.   
For all we know, they wouldn't understand homesickness. For all we know,   
they think we don't know the concept."  
"If they don't understand it, then that would be a very good   
reason to suspect they will not send us home."  
"Stop being so negative! They may not be human, but they are a   
reasonabe people who will send us home if they are asked!"  
"Stop being so loud. You'll wake up Giegue." Still pretending to   
be asleep, Giegue shut his eyes tightly, trying not to think too deeply   
about their conversation.  
***  
Ganiana stared at her commander. It seemed so unbelieveable that   
he had once been such an innocent, trusting young boy. Or a young boy at   
all for that matter. [Those humans seemed like good people. They were not   
mistreated on that ship either. Why did they betray us?]  
"Why do you apologize now?" Giegue screamed at the apparition of   
Maria. He had no time to say more, for the final flashback began.  
***  
"Maria, why did George leave?" Giegue asked.  
"He wanted to go home, that's all."  
"He didn't like it here?"  
"He wanted to go home. I'm sure he'll miss you and everyone here."  
"Why didn't you go with him?"  
She didn't answer. Her face saddened, giving the impression that   
she had not been asked.   
"I'm going to miss him. Will he come back?"  
"I don't think so." Giegue was very saddened by the news. He began to  
cry, as a little child would do. Maria reached out to comfort him. In an  
attempt to soothe his tears, she began to sing a song she knew. It was very  
short, only eight notes long. However, the damage was done. Giegue began to  
shake, as though he was having some sort of seisure.  
"Giegue! What's the..." She never got to finish. A great light filled  
the room. She saw a vision of George just before collapsing.  
***  
Giegue stared at Maria, his eyes filled with anger, pain and regret.  
"Did you think one final betrayal would not matter? Do you realize what that  
did to me? Did you ever stop to realize how many planets, how many people I  
destroyed, just trying to get those eight notes out of my head?!!" He fell to  
his knees, near tears.  
"Yes. I realize the mistake I made. I wish I could change   
everything..."  
"Then, just recently, you betrayed me again!"  
"I had no choice. You are no longer the innocent child I once knew.  
I realize that this is essentially my fault, but..."  
"But what??"  
"It was all a mistake!" she cried, her face in her hands. "It was  
all a horrible mistake! I had no idea what the song would do to you. If I  
had, I wouldn't have..."  
"LIAR!"  
"You have no reason to believe me. But it is the truth."  
Giegue broke down in sobs once more. "My entire life... my entire   
life was ruined... wasted... because of a mistake..."  
"I'm so sorry." Maria's apparition flickered for a moment. "I cannot  
remain here much longer."  
"So leave. As you did before." A great sorrow filled her eyes.  
"I wish none of this had ever happened!"  
Giegue stared at her flickering form, which was slowly fading into  
nothingness. "So do I." Tears rolled down her fading cheeks, but she could   
say no more. Maria faded away.  
Paula collapsed from her effort, nearly unconscious. Ness cried out  
to her, thinking the worst. At the sound of his voice, she bolted to her   
feet, despite how weak she was. Realizing her paralysis was gone, she ran to  
Ness's side, fighting the urge to collapse again.   
"You're still alive," she whispered, unable to speak any louder.  
"There's still a chance, then."  
"Paula..."  
"Don't talk. It will make you weaker." She attempted to drag him over  
to Poo for healing. "Poo! Use Lifeup! It doesn't matter which one!"  
Immediately, Poo tried to comply. However, he found, rather suddenly  
that he could not concentrate.  
"I can't..." He said at last.   
"What do you mean you can't!" Paula screamed.  
"It's not working..."  
"Paula..." Ness repeated.  
"Don't speak," she whispered again.  
"Paula, I want you to know that I love you."  
For a long moment, she could say nothing. At last, she whispered back  
"Ness, I love you too." They stared at each other silently. No words needed  
to be said. All too soon, his body grew stiff and dead.   
A second passed before Paula reacted at all. Finally, tears began to  
form in her eyes. Not long afterward, she was sobbing. "No," was her silent,  
sorrowful and pointless plea, for no one could bring him back. Poo's Psi and  
her prayers were only good on the unconscious, not dead. Suddenly, his body  
began to fade away. Before long, nothing remained of him.   
"What's going on?" Paula cried frantically. No one could answer her,  
for no one knew.  
Giegue watched all that unfolded, without any real reaction. His only  
thought was the fact that his entire life had been wasted for no real reason.  
"What was the point of my life at all?" he muttered bitterly, [All I   
was was a villian. All that I am is nothing but a plague to be stopped.]  
His head turned to Ganiana, who was still trying to digest everything. Her  
world view, which had been shaken before was now completely shattered. [I've  
been nothing but a burden, holding her back. I've held the entire empire   
back.] "No more," he whispered. Giegue noticed Paula's weeping form.   
She was weak, but strong enough for this. He whispered a couple of strange   
words, staring at Paula.   
Paula's eyes grew dim and lifeless. She rose to her feet and turned  
to face Giegue.   
"Paula! What are you doing?" Jeff cried out, but she did not appear  
to hear him.  
In a voice devoit of tone, she whispered, "Freeze Omega." The blast  
of cold wind which erupted from the palm of her hand hit Giegue at full   
force. The song had already weakened him and this nearly finished the job.  
However, she attacked him again and again, with a frighteningly savage   
rythym. Because of the nature of the attack, he suffered no external damage.  
Aside from how pale his face had become, he looked to be the picture of   
perfect health.  
Ganiana snapped out of her revere and realized what was going on.  
"Commander, why are you doing this?"  
"I'll end it all now, here. My existance was meant to be nothing more  
than a hinderance to everyone. Now I shall depart from this life and trouble  
the cosmos no more."  
"You can make it right! Stay alive and fix it!"  
"I cannot make anything right." Paula continued her barrage. Ganiana   
screamed at him to stop, but it was no use. The final blow struck and the  
great prince lay dead. Paula snapped out of her trance. She looked at her  
outstreached arm, then at Giegue.   
"What happened?" she asked tiredly, then fainted.   
Suddenly, voices of Giygan soldiers could be heard from outside the  
door. "What's going on in there?" their leader called out. No one answered.  
Shortly afterward, the door was broken down and about twenty soldiers entered  
the room. They noticed Giegue's carcass.   
"What happened here?" the leader finally managed out. Ganiana could  
not speak. She looked to her gun, then to Giegue. "You mean..?" Ganiana shook  
her head. "Well, what did happen?"  
She spoke one word, "Maroea", which was Giygan for suicide. The leader  
repeated it dumbfoundedly. She nodded.   
"I-I can't believe it. By what means?" Ganiana looked at Paula.  
"The forbidden technique," she answered in a low voice. "Revath."  
"Mind control?" the leader could not stop repeating her.   
"Wait a minute," another officer spoke up. "How do we know you are   
telling the truth? Where is the body of the one who were SUPPOSED to die  
today?"  
"There is nothing left of him. He is dead, I assure you."  
"That will do, for now," the leader replied before anyone else could.  
"Take the humans back to their quarters. We will deal with them once we have  
come to some conclusion about Giegue's death-"  
"I'm telling the truth!"  
"Even if I were to believe you, your word will not convince the   
empire. I will look into more trustworthy sources. You are aware of the   
security cameras?"  
"Yes."  
"We will look at the footage. Until then, I regret to say you must  
remain in a cell alongside the humans." He looked at the soldiers whom had   
not moved.   
"Did I not say to take the humans to their cells? While you are at it, rid   
them of paralysis. It must be terribly uncomfortable for them." One of the   
soldiers took Ganiana back into custody. Everyone left the room except for  
the Giygan's soldier's leader. He stared at Giegue's carcass and sighed. "I   
just don't understand it. Why would he do it? Why would anyone?" 


End file.
